The plight of Seung-tae, a salary-man employed in the electronics division of a mid-sized conglomerate, is becoming increasingly common in Korea. A wild-goose father, Seung-tae lives alone in a small Seoul apartment, sending a large part of his salary as well as borrowed cash to his wife and daughter, Ji-ae, in Toronto. Ji-ae, like many Korean teenagers on the threshold of university, is being educated abroad.
The problem is that the cost of that cramming has risen by more than half in the past year due to the depreciating won and even worse, Seung-tae, already steeped in debt, has been forced to take a pay-cut and reduction in working hours.
The Bank of Korea BOK...