A government employee enters a gate of the government complex in Sejong on March 11, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 21 (Korea Bizwire) — The happiest South Koreans last year were men living in the administrative city of Sejong, a big data analysis has revealed.
Seoul National University Center for Happiness Studies and Kakao Corp. conducted a joint survey in which Sejong City scored the highest (5.43/10) on a happiness index among 17 major regions in South Korea.
Incheon scored the lowest (5.12), followed by North Jeolla Province (5.13). Seoul scored slightly higher than the median (5.22).
The Center for Happiness Studies and Kakao have been studying happiness among South Koreans since 2017.
Last year, they collected close to 2.9 million data records from more than 1.4 million citizens, and recently published The South Korea Happiness Map 2020, an infographic magazine that compiles the results of the analysis.
According to the analysis, South Korea’s happiness index last year was 5.12, down from 5.18 in 2018.
“The year of 2018 was full of happy events, such as the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games and the inter-Korean summit. Last year, however, was marred by less fortunate events such as the Burning Sun scandal, Seoul-Tokyo trade war, and Cho Kuk scandal,” the happiness center said.
The analysis also showed that male residents of Sejong City were the happiest among all Koreans by scoring 5.66 on the happiness index.
“In 2018, 31.7 percent of all employees in Sejong City were working in the private sector, while 19.3 percent worked in the public sector,” the center explained.
“High levels of happiness might have been derived from stable employment in the region.”
The main government complex in Sejong. (Yonhap)
South Koreans were the happiest on Saturdays (5.27) and least happy on Fridays (5.12), going against prior expectations that they’d be least happy on Mondays (5.15).
“People may think that Friday is when we relax and look back on our week as we regain happiness, it is actually a day when we are most worn out psychologically,” the center argued.
The data showed that the happiness index among South Koreans plunged when the clock struck 6 p.m. on Friday.
South Koreans were not necessarily happier on holidays as well.
They were less happy on last year’s Independence Day, Memorial Day, Hangul Day, and Christmas last year. All of these holidays were either on Wednesday or Thursday, detached from weekends.
The least happy day for South Koreans last year was November 15, one day after the College Scholastic Aptitude Test (CSAT).
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
