‘Narayan Murthy competition’: Redditor condemns Korea's 84-hour work week, calls it one of the most toxic nations

An analyst at Global Bank called Korea one of the most toxic nations in a Reddit post. Disregarding the nation's economic progress, the user named Simply Param criticised the ‘work culture’ of the economy ranked as the world's fourteenth largest by GDP and called it hierarchy driven. 

This statement came after ICR analyst at Franklin Templeton, Hardik Joshi, heaped praises on one of the most advanced democracies in Asia. The caption to the post states, “Narayan Murthy competition: Mr Joshi would like a 84 hour work week.” This refers to the instance the co-founder of Infosys Narayana Murthy advocated for a 70-hour workweek to boost national productivity.

Labelling it as suicidal capital of the world among developed nations, Param said, “Korea is one of the most toxic nations, as a nation they're fully run by family owned businesses, the work culture is hierarchy driven…. the education system is poor.”

This remark comes in response to the LinkedIn post claiming that Korea’s rise in the auto industry wasn’t luck. Hardik Joshi hailed Korea's work culture and said, “It was built on relentless work ethic, cultural discipline, and generational commitment to skill-building. 84-hour work weeks. Children spending hours after school with tutors. A society aligned on one goal: progress.”

Suggesting that India possess population, talent and hunger, he asked, “Do we have the collective alignment?”

Hardik Joshi further noted, “Economic growth isn’t magic. It’s math. And the compound interest of hard work is the most underrated formula of all.”

Social media reaction

This LinkedIn post garnered several reactions on social media. A user wrote, “Neither 84 hour work week nor the Children's study drill sustainable; It's not healthy both physically and mentally.”

Another user stated, “Korea’s rise wasn’t an overnight miracle — it was years of discipline compounding into global dominance. India has the numbers, energy, and raw talent. But unless we align collectively — families, industries, education, government — our potential risks being wasted on distractions.”

A third comment read, “With 0 support from family, u cannot sustain the growth. U need consumers to buy your products, if they are working at ofc all the time, how do they even find time to take their car to somewhere out of the city.”

A fourth user replied, “But ironically when Narayanmurthy raised similar point in India about increasing working hours, he was made a target despite being an achiever(sic).”