The BBC in the United Kingdom highlighted Korea's so-called "young forty" generation and analyzed that the negative view toward them Kiin from Korea's unique age-based hierarchy.
On the 18th (local time), the BBC described young forty as "the embodiment of a middle-aged man in street fashion with an iPhone in hand." Young forty originally was a neologism with a positive meaning referring to "people in their 40s who keep a youthful sensibility and are proactive about self-care," but recently it has taken on a negative meaning as various memes (online viral content) have emerged.
Citing interviews with Korea's Generation Z, the broadcast redefined young forty as "people who try too hard to look young," "people who refuse to accept that time has passed." They were characterized as wearing Stüssy T-shirts and Nike sneakers and using devices such as the iPhone 17.
The BBC also pointed to Korea's strict age hierarchy and younger generations' antipathy toward it as reasons the young forty meme has gone viral.
The broadcast said, "In Korea, even a one-year age difference can be grounds for social hierarchy, and even when people first meet, they ask age first and then decide how to act," adding, "The young forty meme shows that skepticism is spreading about what amounts to almost forced respect for older people."
If "kkondae," a term that disparages the once-authoritarian older generation, emerged in the past, the more intensified concept of young forty is now on the rise.
The BBC also noted that a term targeting middle-aged men who hit on younger women, "sweet young forty," has even appeared.
According to the online analysis platform Some Trend, young forty was mentioned more than 100,000 times online last year, indicating it had significant reach in practice. About half of those mentions were in negative contexts such as "old" and "disgusting."