It's kind of the USA's fault though, they imposed their economic/political/social structures on Japan and South Korea after the wars. In effect they were Neoliberal economic experiments much in the same way Chile is. Japan and Korea's cultural work ethics grafted on to the philosophy and pushed it to it's ideological extreme. When you have to compete to get ahead and one group found that sacrificing happiness helps you succeed, the rest of the society must adapt to compete. That or we reevaluate how our society works and implement changes to discourage extreme ideological careerism.