[Reporter’s Notebook] Loneliness Spreading Worldwide, Time to Consider Korea-Specific Policies

"Instead of agreeing to an interview, could you also summarize the situation in Korea?"

Nomura Research Institute (NRI), Japan's largest think tank, was the first to conduct a survey on the everyday isolation issues faced by workers in their 20s and 30s in Japan. Our publication proposed an interview with NRI for overseas case coverage on 'Youth Isolation 24 Hours,' and NRI accepted on the condition that we share the situation in Korea instead.

The interviewee's counterproposal was quite unusual. Especially since Japan has devised various policies for "hikikomori," or socially withdrawn individuals, and was once considered a model country for measures addressing withdrawal issues. It was puzzling why they wanted to learn about Korea's situation in return.

Through repeated communication, the question was quickly resolved. Japan had focused only on severe forms of isolation such as hikikomori and lonely deaths, but had not actually examined how people feel loneliness and isolation in their daily lives. This also helped us understand why Korean field experts unanimously emphasize that "there is no need to blindly benchmark policies from Japan or the UK."

After we compiled and sent the results of our own survey on everyday isolation among workers in their 20s and 30s, NRI remarked, "In Japan, many women still see marriage as a goal, but Korean people seem more independent," while also expressing surprise that "44.9% of Korean youth talk with their family only 1 to 3 times a month, which is very low."

NRI stated that Korea's policy approach to youth isolation is not entirely wrong. They evaluated, "The government has established Youth Future Centers to support the independence of isolated and withdrawn youth and allocated budgets accordingly, showing that Korea is approaching this issue with sincerity."

This means there is no model answer to isolation issues to say who is doing well or poorly. Whether by choice or circumstance, we are isolated, and recognizing this as a global common problem means the first step toward solving it has been taken. From now on, it is important to devise policies considering the characteristics of Korean society to create a country where loneliness is not accepted as normal.