Bad year for duck daddies

Posted on : 2008-01-28 12:48 KST Modified on : 2008-01-28 12:48 KST

Korean fathers are having a bad decade, and there are many terms for their predicaments.

A “wild goose daddy” (gireogi appa is a man who stays behind in Korea to support his wife and children while they are overseas for the children’s education.

A “wild goose daddy” has one advantage, however, in that he is in a job where he can supposedly go and see his family once or twice a year. A “penguin daddy” (penguin appa), however, is a father who is supporting a family that he can never afford to actually see.

Now we have “duck daddies,” who “quack,” or “shriek,” as they’re crushed under an attack of more money for extracurricular tutoring, more specialized high schools and more intensive English-language education.

Most viewed articles