Honjok: A Different Way of Viewing Lockdown
S outh Korea has rapidly developed over the last several decades, becoming internationally recognized for its complex history, varied cuisine, and addictive music. However, other interesting aspects of its culture remain lesser known, such as the rise in honjok – a term referring to a movement popularised in 2017, literally meaning ‘alone tribe’. And whilst its umbrella definition is the act of an individual undertaking activities alone, this can be separated into different categories: honbap (eating alone), honsul (drinking alone), and honhaeng ( going to the cinema alone ) are just some of these. Traditionally having an extremely collectivistic society, groups of people can be seen everywhere in South Korea from the workplace and restaurants to the home, and there’s a focus on reaching goals which will benefit the many, not the few. But, the number of young single households has slowly been rising, with thousands choosing honjok as a way to escape societal expectations surr...