Guinea pigs for hire: In need of quick cash, young South Koreans join clinical trials Victoria Kim © Provided by The LA Times South Koreans receive a COVID-19 vaccine in Seoul in April. (Chung Sung-jun / Pool Photo)
The cellphone bill was coming due. The pricey medication for her chronic skin condition was running low. She d already tapped the parental credit line, promising to pay them back in monthly installments.
In her bank account, less than 50,000 won not quite $45.
A few months into the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the typical part-time gigs 23-year-old Lee Ho-jung usually relied on had vanished. Restaurants, bars and supermarkets were laying off workers. Dozens, if not hundreds of applicants were flocking to minimum-wage jobs with limited hours.
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