I'm not the best/most organized researcher but I've done some preliminary scrounging that might be able to get someone who
is a better researcher in the right direction.
I *think* that enough modernity has trickled over into Korea at this point that admitting your are old and childless is inclined to elicit more pity ("she has no one to take care of her!") than scorn.
That seems to be correct, although there's a slight amount of panic (since it then falls to the government to lend a hand to the women, that puts a budget issue on the horizon)
Side note: if you follow some of the strictest ancestor worship, Congratulations! We're going to turn in to minor evil gods when we die. See you in Dark Astoria and I call dibs on sending out the Elders of Sorrow.
A more shamanic tone seems to be right on track: out in the countryside it's much more
common for women to take up shamanism.
I also believe that the SOUTH Koreans are at the stage of admitting that "differently abled" kids are worth having around, as opposed to China and NORTH Korea who refuse to admit they have any such thing.
There is still a large stigma attached unfortunately, especially to children in the autism spectrum (
which is blamed on the children's moms and seen as a shame to the whole family).
However a somewhat recent study on the
number of children in the autism spectrum in S. Korea garnered a fair amount of press, so hopefully someone in the city would have a more modern view.
Hopefully.