South Korea, as a rule, is associated with ultra-modern technologies and transnational corporations, beautiful cars and skyscrapers, pretty singers and singers of K-POP groups. It seems that these images came from the future. However, this beautiful “cover” has another side: the Korean media are full of stories about internal crises, scandals, a constant competitive race; Koreans themselves often complain about life and, according to surveys, are very unhappy. At what price does success that delights the world come? Oleg Kiryanov is an international journalist, political scientist, Korean historian, candidate of historical sciences. Graduated from the Korean department of the Oriental Faculty of St. Petersburg State University, bachelor's and master's degrees from Seoul University. Specializing in the history and modernity of the Korean Peninsula, he has lived and worked in Seoul for more than 20 years. It invites the reader to look at Korea through different eyes, in many ways through the eyes of the Koreans themselves. The publishing design is preserved in PDF A4 format.