The author’s frank, sharp criticism of uncomfortable truths and the underlying issues we should not ignore gave me a lot to think about. These are realities we all know, and when I look at what is happening in South Korea today, I often wonder whether we are really moving toward a healthy society. In Korea, people rank material prosperity above family as the most important thing in life, while our society bears the shameful distinction of having the world’s highest suicide rate. I know this,

I felt the author’s candid, heartfelt concern and scathing criticism of a range of social problems I had never considered. It made me realize how indifferent I had been to social issues in Korea. I want to pay more attention and care to issues I had not looked at closely and had turned away from. I cannot say that the author’s perspective is entirely right, but I was glad there are older people who hold such views and point toward a better path. Another thing I liked about this book was the

The author speaks frankly about various social issues and personal opinions. Rather than feeling agreement or a moment of insight, I felt the value of coexistence: “So people can think this way too; people like this exist too.”

This is a refreshing book of essays that sharply criticizes problems in our society from the perspective of an older generation. It is made up of themes worth thinking about once—or, really, continually—and frankly lays bare our country’s uncomfortable truths. Like an ice cream that cools you down, I hope many young people in their twenties and thirties will read it.

Most people react first to what they can see. Since humans are sensory creatures, reacting to appearances is only natural. As a result, we sometimes miss the essence that lies beyond them, even though we know that what is deeply embedded beneath the surface matters much more than what appears on it... In Jeong Hyeon-seok’s “Although the Essence Lies Beyond the Phenomenon...”, the author examines the realities of the dark side prevalent in society and a social climate that puts appearances ahead

A New Perspective on Understanding the World — “Although the Essence Lies Beyond the Phenomenon...” As I turn to the first page and read the author’s introduction, I learn that he believes the most important thing in the world is family, then himself, and that he loves his country. Religion is important too. After reading the introduction, I learned that the author, Jeong Hyeon-seok, naturally accepts that he could be called a very family-oriented, deeply patriotic man in his sixties—a