“Wait and see” sounds calm in English. In Korean parenting culture, it can feel like negligence.In this episode, I’m introducing a Korean book that hasn’t been translated into English: The Sociology of Marriage and Childcare by Oh Chan-ho (결혼과 육아의 사회학, gyeol-hon-gwa yuk-a-ui sa-hoe-hak). It’s part of a series I do about once a month, where I bring English-speaking listeners inside Korean books and ideas that often stay behind the language barrier.We’ll trace how Korea’s caregiving instinct evolved from survival mode (mountains, wars, and folk remedies) into something more modern and sneakier: a system that turns parental worry into measurable tasks, purchases, and performance reviews. We’ll talk about maternal love (모성애, mo-seong-ae), parenting as evaluation, and why a Korean baby expo can feel less like shopping and more like a crash course in anxiety.Companion: This episode pairs with my Substack essay, Why Korean Parents Can’t “Just Wait and See.” Get full access to Understanding Korea, One Story at a Time at yoonjiwon.substack.com/subscribe

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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