Becoming Rich: Economic Subjectivity and the Portrayal of Money in Modern South Korea.

This article examines how the media has portrayed the changing public perception of money in postwar South Korea, in a society in which many people's identity is enmeshed with economic life goals. While many scholars have focused on the phenomenon of economic development, this article examines the formation of a culture that gratifies moneymaking and commends wealth. I argue that the culture of capitalism and ethics in contemporary South Korea underwent significant change during the postwar period. In the early 1960s, not only was the opportunity to become rich scarce, but also people who became affluent had to justify their wealth through charitable actions and demonstrating social responsibility to shed the notion that moneymaking was due to coincidence or linked to corruption. In less than a decade, however, becoming rich both became possible in the popular imaginations of ordinary people and started to gain legitimacy as a desirable action. This changing public perception of affluence reveals a development of the culture embracing wealth and an abandonment of historically negative public perceptions of money and wealth.