Author Archives: Jung-Joon Lee

Because I lived in Korea for almost all my life, I assume that I could say something about Korean third places. Similar to the U.S., Third Places have decreased continuously in Korea as well. When I was a child, most towns had several playgrounds and facilities for resident gatherings. However, as a price of lands got increased, builders had to sell more houses within limited areas. So, they made more residences only instead of building Third Places. As a result, the locals rarely had meetings and even lived without knowing people next door. In addition, modern people tend to be more busy and individualistic in comparison with past decades. Therefore, they spend more time in First and Second Places and particularly most young people have no intention to go to Third Places.

However, some locals still want to share information and promote friendship; it is usually done by online. I can see lots of local communities on the Internet and there are sizable members. So, as of now, I think Third Places are moved to a cyberspace. They do share information and make friends on the Internet likewise our seniors did in Third Places. Furthermore, some members of an online community are likely to meet in person when they become close.

To sum up, I think the number of Third Places is getting decreased and it seems that Third Places could not go against the trend. However, people keep sharing information one another as ever and the biggest difference between past and present might be an interface in which they use.