VOL.95/2026.06

 

A Nation of Youth

Talking about our present and the future in the face of a super-aged society

 

2025.09.04

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Half the population is elderly, the birth rate is plummeting, AI is competing with humans; and the near future is riddled with hate and discrimination. And yet, there exists a shadowed utopia - Sycamore Island, where the world’s super-rich seniors gather. Though built for the elderly, it is also a dream destination for the young. It is because working for wealthy seniors means a life of leisure. Nara, a 29-year-old aspiring actor, who hopes to make her dream come true on the island, is one of them.

 

“To reach old age with wealth intact?that is what society calls respectable. Whether or not it deserves respect, most admired elders have met that condition.” - from the book

 

By chance, Nara becomes a counselor at a senior welfare facility?and gains entry to Sycamore Island. A Nation of Youth tells, through a year of Nara’s diary, the story of a coming “nation of the elderly” and the slice of life witnessed by this young woman.

 

“It has become common to scorn the elderly who choose to live on as long as life allows, rather than setting a date for their own death. Many now look at them with contempt, thinking, ‘Why don’t they just hurry up and die?’” - from the book

 

Even death, once equal for all, has become a marker of class. The book’s “raw, prophetic language” asks: Which side will we choose?despair or hope? Sohn Won-Pyung, winner of the 10th Changbi Prize for Young Adult Fiction with Almond (Dazzling publishers), introduces her novel as: “A story that must never happen?and yet one that must exist.” Everyone passes through youth. Everyone will one day grow old. Where are you standing now?

 

A Nation of Youth
Written by Sohn Won-Pyung, published by Dazzling Publishers

 

 

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