Starbucks Stars as Korea’s Women Battle Demographic Drag

When former kindergarten teacher Kim Sun Sung tried to re-join South Korea’s workforce after five years raising her children, she found it tough. Then 41, Kim was either told she was too old or had been out of work too long.

“It wasn’t easy to find a decent job,” said Kim, now 48 and working as a consultant at a Seoul private-study school. “I didn’t want to end my life like that, with my expertise being wasted.”