Salt Flowers: Glimpses of South Korea’s Labour Landscape

Sweat stains on an old pair of overalls, or sweat stains on a fine shirt. South Koreans call them both “salt flowers”: beautiful traces of hard labour. It is a symbol of labour’s immeasurable value, beyond the understanding of those who never work and sweat. Calling a sweat stain a salt flower is the highest compliment we can offer to everyone who works to better this world. Farmers. Labourers. Office workers. I believe in that ancient truth: The world belongs to those who work. That is why m