Japan and South Korea are struggling with old-age poverty
Their problems may be instructive for other countries
At a soup kitchen in Dongdaemun, a district of Seoul synonymous with the capital’s fashionistas, Kim Mi-kyung is busy preparing for the lunch rush. Ms Kim explains that the kitchen serves around 500 people a day, most of them elderly. “They can’t work, they can’t ask for money from their children and they can’t eat,” she says. “So they come here.”
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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Pensions and penury”
From the May 4th 2024 edition
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A good news story? Maybe