SEOUL
The president’s plan to make society fairer is not going well

首尔
令韩国社会更加公平?总统的计划施行不佳


In an early scene in “Parasite”, a hit South Korean film, a young woman from a poor family forges a university-enrolment certificate for her brother. He is about to apply for a job tutoring a girl from a rich family and hopes that the false credential will improve his chances. But when he shows up to the interview the girl’s mother barely glances at it, telling him she trusts him because he was recommended by her daughter’s previous tutor—his only posh friend, who has left to study abroad.

在大热韩国电影《寄生虫》刚开始的一个场景中,穷人家的妹妹给哥哥伪造了一张大学文凭。他准备应聘一份给富家千金当家教的工作,寄希望于这张假文凭能提高录用可能。但当他接受面试时,女儿的母亲没怎么看文凭,告诉他自己相信他,因为他是由女儿之前的家教推荐的。之前的这位家教是他唯一的有钱朋友,辞掉了这份工作打算出国留学。
原创翻译:龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


Even more than in most countries, academic credentials are valuable for getting ahead in South Korea. But the scene captures another truth: that if you know the right people, your exam results don’t matter as much. The two siblings in “Parasite” (pictured above, desperately trying to catch a free wi-fi signal) milk that insight for all it is worth, before things inevitably unravel. The film, which won the top prize at the Cannes film festival this year, also struck a chord with South Koreans: in a country of 52m, cinemas have sold 10m tickets for it since it was released at the end of May.

在韩国想要出人头地,学历证书十分重要,这一情形比大多数国家更甚。但片头的这个场景捕捉了又一真相:如果你认识对的人,考试结果就没那么重要了。《寄生虫》中的两兄妹在一切败露之前,充分利用了这一点。 这部于2019年获得戛纳金棕榈奖的电影使韩国观众产生了共鸣:该电影于五月末上映,在拥有五千两百万人口的韩国,卖出了一千万张电影票。

The resonance of a satirical film about inequality is hardly surprising. Moon Jae-in, the president, promised to make South Korea “fairer” when he was elected in 2017, after his predecessor was impeached (and later given a long prison sentence) for using her authority to help a friend’s child get ahead, among other abuses. Yet over the past couple of months a nepotism scandal has engulfed Cho Kuk, Mr Moon’s new justice minister. Before Mr Cho was appointed, it emerged that his daughter, now in her late 20s, had received some unusual benefits during her studies.

对一部描绘不平等的讽刺电影产生共鸣不足为奇。韩国前总统滥用职权,包括动用权利帮助朋友女儿进入名校,在她因此遭到弹劾后(之后受到长期监禁),韩国现任总统文在寅在2017年当选时许诺要令韩国“更加公平”。然而在过去几个月,文总统的新任法务部长曹国陷入了裙带关系丑闻。在曹国受到任命之前曝出,他28岁的女儿在校期间获得过一些不寻常的好处。

Among other things, she allegedly received generous scholarships despite twice failing her exams at medical school, and was listed as the primary author of an academic paper while still in secondary school, even though she had only completed a two-week internship at the lab where the research in question was conducted (which happened to be run by a friend of her mother’s). Mr Cho, who has apologised to young people for causing “disappointment” but has said he will not resign, has been charged by Mr Moon with reforming the prosecutors’ office, to make sure it does not go soft on well-connected crooks.

据称她在医学院两次挂科却获得丰厚奖学金,并在高中时期以第一作者身份发表学术论文,尽管她只在进行该研究的实验室实习了两周(这一实验室正好由其母亲的朋友管理)。曹国为令国民失望而道歉,但他说他不会辞职。文总统命其改革检察官办公室,以防止有关系的罪犯逃脱法网。

For many South Koreans, the story carries echoes of the scandal that brought down Park Geun-hye, the previous president, whose closest confidante persuaded a university to change its admissions criteria to admit her daughter. Outraged students, in particular, have been protesting against Mr Cho’s appointment. “I don’t mind the system being competitive, but it’s the hypocrisy that’s so galling,” says Lee Jong-bae, who is campaigning to reform university admissions. “They promised us a fair and equal society and instead we keep having these scandals that show us that privilege is passed on and you can never succeed unless your parents did.” His disillusionment is typical: nearly two-thirds of South Koreans under the age of 30 believe that they are unlikely to move up the social ladder. Six years ago, it was less than half.

对很多韩国人来说,这一事件使他们联想到令前总统朴槿惠下台的丑闻,她最好的闺蜜让梨花女子大学更改其录取条件以录取她的女儿。气愤的学子们反对任命曹国为法务部长。“竞争激烈我不介意,但他们的虚伪太让人愤怒了。” 李钟培这样说道。他参与了改革大学录取条件的运动。 “他们承诺要建立一个公正平等的社会,但不断出现这样的丑闻,告诉我们特权在传递,除非你的父母是特权阶级,否则你永远也无法成功。”这种信念破灭的想法很典型:年龄在30岁以下的韩国人中大约有三分之二认为他们不可能跨越现有社会阶级。六年前,这一比例少于二分之一。

As bad as it seems

事实的确糟糕

They have cause to be pessimistic. The social class of children is more closely tied to that of their parents in South Korea than in any other country in the OECD, according to a study published last year. Data from the education ministry show that the percentage of students who receive financial aid at the best universities in Seoul was barely half the national average, suggesting that a large majority of their students are from well-off families.

人们感到很消极。根据去年发布的研究,同经济合作与发展组织中的其他国家比较,在韩国,孩子与父母社会阶级的关联更加紧密。教育部的数据显示,在首尔最好的几所大学中,获得经济援助的学生比例是全国平均比例的一半,这说明顶尖大学中绝大多数的学生都来自富裕家庭。

The problem is not exclusive to South Korea, says Lee Cheol-sung of Sogang University. “Privilege plays an important role in educational attainment everywhere.” The recent revelation that some rich families in America had secured places for their children at prestigious universities through fraud and bribery caused widespread outrage.

这一问题并不仅仅存在于韩国,西江大学的李哲丞这样说道。“在世界各地,有钱有势者的特权都是决定受教育程度的重要因素。”近来曝出一些美国富裕家庭通过欺诈贿赂使孩子进入名校,引起了众怒。

But such scandals prompt particular anger in South Korea, he argues, because of the country’s rigid labour market, which offers few opportunities for those starting out. “It’s a systemic problem—there are all these old people with high salaries who are impossible to get rid of, so, to keep paying them, firms avoid hiring young people or only give them irregular contracts.”

他认为,类似丑闻在韩国激起极大愤怒是因为韩国的劳动市场僵化,刚出社会的求职者缺乏工作机会。“这是一个系统性问题——薪水高的老员工不可能让位,所以,为了给他们付工资,公司就不雇佣年轻人或者只给他们提供不平等的合同。”

The official youth unemployment rate reached 10.4% this summer. But that does not include those so discouraged that they have stopped looking for work, and those who undertook further studies to put off looking for a job. If these groups are taken into account, some economists reckon, the true unemployment rate for young people may be as high as 25%.

2019年夏季,官方发布的年轻人失业率达10.4%。但这并不包括那些深受打击而不愿继续找工作以及通过继续深造逃避找工作的人。如果把这些群体也算在内,一些经济学家认为,实际的年轻人失业率可能高达25%。

Mr Moon is trying hard to level the playing field. His government offers generous subsidies to companies that employ young workers, is encouraging employers to convert part-time contracts into regular jobs and pays a monthly stipend of 500,000 won ($420) to some youngsters from poor backgrounds who are unable to find work.

文总统正努力建立公平环境。其政府给雇佣年轻人的公司提供丰厚补助,鼓励雇佣者将兼职合同转变为全职,并给无法找到工作、家境贫寒的年轻人提供每月50万韩元(420美元)的生活补贴。

It has banned discriminatory hiring practices, too, such as asking for parents’ names and titles on application forms, and tightened rules for lawmakers who want to employ relatives. The government is also drafting legislation to criminalise the hiring of ghostwriters or consultants to buff up university applications, a practice which for many epitomises the unfair advantages of the rich.

同时,文在寅政府禁止雇佣歧视,比如要求申请人填写父母姓名和头衔,并收紧规定,防止立法人员雇佣亲属。政府正起草法规,将雇佣代笔人和咨询人来润色大学申请材料的行为列为违法行为。对很多人来说,这正是富裕家庭不公平优势的典型。

Those who can afford it spend tens of thousands of dollars on such services. Such extravagant and blatant efforts to secure undue advantage in university applications are so common that they have become the subject of a popular television drama, “Sky Castle”. In one episode, a rich father buys a model pyramid to remind his sons of the structure of society. Some South Koreans say the show is so true to life they cannot bear to watch it.

有钱人在这项服务上投入成千上万美元。在大学申请时,为了获得优势公然采取这样过分的行为十分常见,这甚至成为了一部热播电视剧《天空之城》的主题。在某一集中,一个有钱人家的父亲买了一个金字塔模型,警示孩子那就是社会的样子。一些韩国人说,这部电视剧太过现实,他们甚至不忍往下观看。