Time now for Trend Vibes, where we explore the latest cultural trends in Korea! For that, we have our trend reporter Yoon Seyoung. Welcome, Seyoung!
Hello! Can you believe it’s already been a week since the new year began? Setting goals for the year ahead is always exciting, don’t you think? They don’t have to be grand—small, meaningful ones are just as good! So, what are your New Year’s resolutions?
We just shared our New Year’s goals does today’s topic tie into this?
Exactly! Today, we’re diving into the trends surrounding how Koreans welcome the new year. To start, let’s see what kinds of hopes and goals Koreans have for 2025. Late last year, NATE, a domestic portal site, conducted a survey with nearly 6,000 participants about their New Year’s wishes. Can you guess what topped the list?
The top wish was achieving “financial stability.” In 2024, a similar survey ranked “maintaining good health” as the top goal, but given the current economic challenges, it’s no surprise that money and finances took the lead this time. Second place was “health for myself and my family,” and third was “peace on the Korean Peninsula and worldwide.” These results really seem to reflect the domestic and global situations, don’t they? Other popular resolutions included dieting and breaking bad habits such as quitting smoking or drinking.
There’s something about the new year that fills us with optimism and courage to tackle anything.
But keeping those resolutions is another story. How do Koreans these days stay on track with their goals?
Making an effort to stick to New Year’s resolutions has become a cultural trend itself! To make it easier for our viewers to understand, I’ve broken this trend into three key themes: Health, Productivity, and Self-Development.
Those three words all sounds inspiring! Let’s delve into each of them in detail. First off, health!
Sure. Staying fit and maintaining a healthy lifestyle has become an important value for Koreans. People are putting a lot of effort into building stronger, healthier bodies. This includes losing weight, building muscle, and improving stamina. January is peak season for gyms, with a surge in new memberships. For those who can’t make it to the gym, home workout equipment sales have also risen, along with demand for activewear.
On top of that, healthy eating is just as important. Around the New Year, even at convenience stores, increasing numbers of people choose diet-friendly products like protein bars, salads, boiled eggs, chicken breast, and protein drinks, instead of indulgent snacks and sugary drinks.
That’s fascinating. What about productivity? How are people boosting that?
Have you heard of the term “Gotseng”? It’s a combination of “God” and the Korean word for “life,” meaning to live a life as perfect as a god’s. But it’s not about achieving grand success. It’s about being diligent and disciplined in everyday life, valuing the process over the outcome.
To manage their time more efficiently, many people purchase planners around the New Year. While digital calendars are popular, there’s still a strong preference for analog methods. Personally, I love using a physical planner! This trend has given rise to “planner decoration,” or Dakku-we talked about it on Trend Vibes before. People buy stickers, decorative tape, and pens to personalize their planners, which has also become a popular hobby.
So, just like interest in fitness boosts sales of gym gear, enthusiasm for planning boosts sales of planners and their accessories. That’s really interesting! What about the last theme, self-development?
Many Koreans use the new year as a chance to focus on self-improvement. December and January see a surge in sales of self-help books, language learning materials, and exam preparation guides. While this year’s top spots are still dominated by Nobel Prize winner Han Kang’s masterpieces, the bestseller lists at this time of year are usually dominated by self-development books.
Another fun fact is that January is when so-called “brick books” sell well—those massive books as thick as bricks that many hesitate to pick up the rest of the year. Popular examples include “Guns, Germs, and Steel”, “Cosmos”, and “Sapiens”. Some of my friends are diving into these, and honestly, it’s inspiring me to try one too!
That’s so true. January feels like the perfect time to tackle even the most daunting challenges.
Exactly! The idea of starting fresh and giving it your all seems to drive people to set ambitious goals, even if they don’t always finish.
It’s fascinating how New Year’s goals have evolved into cultural trends. Here’s hoping we all achieve what we’ve set out to do and celebrate our accomplishments by the year’s end. Thanks for sharing these insights, Seyoung!
See you next week!
Source : Arirang TV, https://www.arirang.com/news/view?id=279662
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