Every year, thousands of South Koreans – mostly middle-aged men – die quietly and alone, cut off from their family and friends. It sometimes takes days or even weeks before their bodies are found.
These are the country’s “lonely deaths,” known as godoksa in Korean. It’s part of a larger problem of loneliness and isolation across the country, an issue so pressing the government is pulling out all the stops to fight it.
In the bustling capital Seoul, city authorities announced this week they would spend 451.3 billion won (nearly $327 million) over the next five years to “create a city where no-one is lonely.”
Their new initiatives include loneliness counselors available on a 24/7 hotline, an online platform for similar counseling, as well as follow-up measures including in-person visits and consultations, according to the metropolitan government.
“Loneliness and isolation are not just individual problems, but tasks that society must solve together,” Seoul mayor Oh Se-hoon said in a news release. The city will “mobilize all of our municipal capacity” to help lonely people heal and “return to society,” he added.
The city also plans to introduce expanded psychological services and green spaces; nutritional meal plans for middle-aged and elderly residents; a dedicated “search system” to identify isolated residents who need help; and activities to encourage people to venture outside and connect with others, such as gardening, sports, book clubs and more.
Experts have welcomed the measures but say more needs to be done – partly because loneliness in Korea is tied to certain unique parts of Korean culture that are difficult to change.
“Loneliness is a significant social issue right now, so efforts or policies to address it are absolutely necessary,” said An Soo-jung, a psychology professor at Myongji University – cautioning, however, that “there needs to be careful consideration about how effectively these measures will be implemented.”
