Multiunit residential buildings in Bongcheon-dong, Gwanak District in Seoul / Korea Times file

Amid growing concerns over demonstrations in Paris turning violent, soaring rents are being cited as one of the issues pushing Europe’s youth into the streets.

In Madrid, for example, the average rent is equivalent to 98.7 percent of a young worker's monthly salary. Soaring rent has emerged as a severe social problem for young people across major European cities including Berlin, Paris and London. As protests spread from city to city, it is striking to know how young people in Europe — once the engine of the global economy — are suffering.

What about Korea? Are young people here fine?

Though many Koreans are discouraged by a plummeting stock market, Korea seems to be in a better position than European countries in terms of major macroeconomic indicators. Driven by a booming semiconductor sector, exports between January and September of this year have already........

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