You probably don’t need statistics or scientific research to see how hard life in this society is. There are nonstop incidents and controversies that illustrate the difficulties and adversities faced by contemporary Koreans.

Young people fed up with the shortage of decent jobs kill themselves, people frustrated with life wield knives at strangers and couples have no qualms about abusing -- and even murdering --their children.

Korean workers have one of the world’s longest workweeks, the gap between the haves and have-nots is widening, young people will not get married and give birth to children and many have to work into old age due to the lack of social security. The environment - as evidenced by the worsening fine dust problem - is deteriorating.

In short, the quality of life of Koreans is very bad. A recent report released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development offered another piece of evidence.

The Better Life Index, which was based on a survey of 38 countries, put Korea at the 28th place this year, one notch down from last year. Overall, Korea ranks high in categories like education (6th place) and civic engagement (10th).

But Korea remains near the bottom in categories like life satisfaction and health, in which the country ranked 31st and 35th, respectively. Environment in Korea was the second worst -- only after Israel -- among the 38 countries.

For instance, the level of atmospheric PM2.5 -- particulate materials that causes serious health hazards -- is 29.1 micrograms per cubic meter in Korea, more than twice the OECD average of 14.05 micrograms per cubic meter.

Last week, the Korean government announced measures to cope with the growing environmental menace, but many of them rehashed old policies and few expect them to reduce the level of air pollution in the country.

The work-life balance BLI also confirmed the hectic lifestyles of Korean workers. It showed that 23.1 percent of Korean workers devote more than 50 hours per week to their job, compared with the OECD average of 13 percent.

Belonging to a community is important for happiness in life, but Korea ranks 37th in this category as well: 75.8 percent of Koreans believe that they have someone they can rely on in times of need, much lower than the OECD average of 88 percent.

All in all, the OECE report backs up the assertion that Korea is “hell” to live in. The bigger problem is that there seems no easy solution to the situation which is as hazy as the severe fine dust storm we face frequently.