The Korea Exchange in Seoul
© AFP Jung Yeon-Je SEOUL (AFP) - The survey by online recruiter Job Korea, reported in Friday's Korea Times, showed almost 95 percent of 1,028 respondents believe the economic downturn is at a serious level.
It said 25 percent are seeing a steep drop in fund investments and a similar percentage face corporate reshuffling or expenses cuts.
Kim Eun-Kyung, a 32-year-old trading firm worker who lost more than half her savings through a devalued fund, now takes the subway, dines out seldom and has scrapped weekend trips.
"I wake up at night over frustration that I lost so much money," she told the paper. "The only way I can make up for the loss is to cut back on spending and save as much as I can."
Yoon Ji-Je, a 34-year-old housewife with two children, said she was surprised to find herself developing a bad habit. "I started taking napkins from restaurants so that I don't have to buy them at home."
Many parents who sent their children to study abroad are bringing them home because the local currency has plunged against the dollar.
"I send my family 3,500 to 4,000 dollars a month, but I spent about 800,000 won (600 dollars) more this month to send the same amount of dollars," said a scholar who went to the United States as an exchange professor.
He returned home alone last year, leaving his wife and children there.
"I don't have a bundle (of cash) to convert to dollars in a lump. So I dread the won's decline," he was quoted by Dong-A Ilbo newspaper as saying. His family now plans to return home.
A company which arranges overseas study programmes is getting a couple of calls a day from parents who want to bring their children home, the daily said.
The scrimping is bad news for policymakers since weak domestic demand is pulling down the overall economy.
"Despite robust exports, the growth of the South Korean economy is markedly weakening due to sluggish domestic demand," the central bank said Thursday.
©AFP