Ending the social malaise of lonely death

People at risk of dying alone — and undiscovered — number 50,000 in Seoul, according to the city’s findings after surveying 80,000 individuals living alone in one-room or otherwise small rentals over the last two years. The count can go up as the city government plans to visit an additional 60,000 households in the latter half.

What is worrisome is that the ratio of the danger of lonely deaths was 55.5 percent among people in their 50s and 60s, sharply higher than the 16.6 percent among people in their 80s. Most of them did not have anyone around to care for them when they were sick (71.9 percent) or to talk to when they felt gloomy (49.3 percent). As many as 33.5 percent had not communicated with a single person for a week.

The findings by the central government in December were no different. The count of lonely deaths surged to 3,378 last year from 2,412 in 2017-2021, of which 52.1 percent were men in their 50s and 60s.

Most of those who died alone had been deprived of welfare benefits. Among those who died alone in 2021, only 38.5 percent were recipients of a basic allowance. The deaths of 35 percent were unnoticed despite their overdue payment of utility bills. A man in his 50s whose corpse was discovered in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul was found with unpaid power bills for seven consecutive months. Under the government manual, the Korea Electric Power Corporation has is supposed to report to the Ministry of Health and Welfare if a payment is overdue for more than three months. The ministry then orders the local district office to check on the individual. The body of the main in his 50s was discovered three months after his death.

Dying alone can be a social homicide. Although people live longer, they are not prepared for their old age. The rise in one-person household has made people’s lives more fractional. The collapse of community weakens social solidarity and isolates the weaker parities. The rise in lonely deaths should be dealt with as a social illness rather than individual problem.

Namyangju City, Gyeonggi, has joined up with multiple welfare and community centers to prevent lonely deaths. It mandated visits to hazardous households five times a week and daily monitoring through remote biometrics. As a result, it has not reported any lonely deaths so far this year after reporting five last year. Lonely deaths can be prevented if social isolation is stopped.

Korea must solve the problem just like Britain and Japan, which have government offices devoted to preventing social isolation. The government must come up with a policy in accordance with the rapidly aging population and increasing single-person households.