Sibal Biyong: Spending Toward Meaning of Life

Lately it seems that all over Seoul there are vending machines full of plush toys, known as the “claw machine.” You insert money, then control the mechanical hand to fish objects inside the clear glass box. In most cases the effort ends in failure. At first I wondered if anyone would waste money on this futile diversion. But claw machines have become so ubiquitous — some stores, occupying prime real estate close to subway station exits, offer only these contraptions and nothing else — that I c