Images of the future in South Korea

•An examination and interpretation of the images of the future in both the pre-modern and modern era in South Korea.•The utopian/dystopian dichotomy leads the problems to navigate alternative futures.•Pre-modern Korea presents two different images of the future: a Confucian utopia for the ruling class and a classless society for the oppressed.•Modern Korea has five alternative images of the future: (a) becoming a developed country, (b) apocalyptic discourse, (c) national unification, (d) advanced information society, and (e) feminist visions.

This paper examines and interprets the images of the future in both the pre-modern and modern era in South Korea. Future images in premodern Korea depended on social and political status. The ruling class had a Confucian utopia based on remote places and the golden age of ancient Chinese regimes. On the other hand, the oppressed, denied the Confucian ideal society, sought a classless society without oppression. In modern Korean society, five alternative images of the future can be identified: (a) becoming a developed country, (b) apocalyptic discourse, (c) national unification, (d) advanced information society, and (e) feminist visions. Unlike the future images from pre-modern Korea, those in Korea's modern era reject the ideal past, imaginary present, and radically different future. Instead, the images focus on a long-term, future-oriented vision and address the various dimensions of the feasible transformation of its current society.