Korea is interesting

Korea is interesting.  The country itself is definitely at a different place developmentally than Canada or the U.S.  According to The World Factbook, South Korea has only had an elected president since 1993 and this came after 35 years of Japanese rule, 3 years of war, and 32 years of military rule.  Also, before the 1960s South Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world, and then their economy took off.  So in many ways, this is a very new country - certainly one that has gone through dramatic changes in the past 100 years. 
But while Korea is a developed, modern society, there are some areas that seemingly haven't caught up yet.  One area is the role of women.  I haven't really researched this topic at all, but from observation there is a clear distinction between the opportunities that men and women have in Korean society.  As I understand it, there's quite a bit of pressure on women to get married.  In this case, it is largely the woman who stays home and the man who supports the family.  A married woman is called an 'ajuma' and they have quite a reputation here (at least among foreigners).  This might be an exageration but they all tend to look much the same - short, with permed hair and a visor on (see picture).  Though I'm not very familiar with the ajuma lifestyle, these women do tend to be seen doing much the same things - working in the garden, selling fish at Jukto market, glaring at people on the bus, and generally being in charge of everything around them.
Also, from my observations, if a woman does not get married, they are then expected to support their father and/or brother.  All my claims are only based on a small amount of observation, and I'm quite sure that women's independance in Korea is changing quite a bit, but it is interesting.
Another Korean trend that seems to be due to Korea's rapid development and change is the value placed on things that are new - especially apartment buildings (it seems to me).  I've heard that Koreans start to consider an apartment building as old after 5 - 10 years.  So then they move to a newer apartment building.  And the fact that there are maybe 4 new apartment complexes being built within a 20 minute walk of my house seems to support this.  I've heard others say that in this way, and many others, Koreans seem to be stuck in the 70s and 80s.  (I wasn't born then so I can't give an opinion on the matter).  But there certainly doesn't seem to be any value placed on old, cultured, historical buildings as there is in North America.  It's interesting.

Here's a picture (that I didn't take) of some ajumas:

Thanks for reading,
Michael