Out With the Old.(generational conflicts in South Korea)

Barry Cha knew his days were numbered. The 49-year-old general manager for a top South Korean company saw the signs around him. First he was passed up for a series of promotions. Then a much younger colleague leapfrogged him into upper management. The successful Korean chaebol was constantly singing the praises of its young talent while hardly saying a word about the value of its older, experienced hands. The message was clear: after 23 years of service, it was time for this company man to move on. When he submitted his resignation letter earlier this year, Cha's boss accepted it as though wondering why it had taken so long. Today Cha feels betrayed. "I devoted my entire adulthood to the company," he says. "But I was dumped simply because I was too old."

For a country with a centuries-old Confucian tradition, South Korea is in the midst of a rare and uncharacteristic struggle between old and young. Since President Roh Moo Hyun rode to victory on the votes of younger Koreans late last year, countless Korean organizations-- companies, banks, newspapers and universities--have worked hard to put forward a more youthful face. Youth is now a credential, synonymous with creativity, energy and ambition. Meanwhile, workers in their mid- 40s--who in most places would be in the prime years of their career-- are being branded as conservative, incompetent or corrupt. It's hardly surprising that those being put out to pasture share Cha's sense of betrayal, increasingly resentful of this trend toward everything young. "Every country has generational conflicts," says Chun Sang In, a sociologist at Hallim University. "But in Korea it is too confrontational and sudden. This is almost a war."

Most observers agree that President Roh's election last December was the trigger. The former human-rights lawyer was --barely recognized in political circles when the primaries began. But Roh, 56, pulled off a surprising come-from-behind victory thanks to the enormous support of the so-called 386 Generation--people in their 30s who as college students protested against the military government in the 1980s and who were born in the 1960s. Roh, who championed a liberal agenda, was shunned by the older generation, but young voters supported him en masse.

He rewarded them in kind. His administration is now filled with members of the 386 Generation. The average age of the presidential staff is at least 10 years younger than the previous administration's. Presidential advisers in their 40s--or younger--account for more than 80 percent of the total, compared with 60 percent five years ago. Several of Roh's cabinet ministers--whose average age is 55--are in their 40s, which is shocking in a country where even those in their 50s were recently regarded as too young for such esteemed positions. Many say the Blue House now resembles the early Clinton White House, where casual thirtysomething staffers roamed the halls. "The current Blue House staff is the youngest and most dynamic in Korean history," says Hahm Sung Duek of Korea University. "They are idealistic and democratic, but inexperienced and disorganized at the same time."

To be fair, the generational changes began even before Roh took power. When former president Kim Dae Jung took office five years ago amid the Asian financial crisis, he initiated drastic economic reforms that led businesses to purge older executives. New rules making layoffs easier allowed companies to persuade many employees to take early retirement, especially those deemed responsible for the fiscal mess. Younger managers with a more Western mind-set quickly replaced bosses who were more accustomed to cronyism than accounting.

But today's social shift is much faster and more wide-ranging. Newspapers, for example, have retired older editors critical of Roh and appointed younger journalists with better contacts in the inner circles of government. Young members of the teachers' union have started campaigns to oust the more conservative-minded principals at some public schools. Roh's appointment of a 46-year-old female Justice minister led to the mass departure of a number ...