Let the young get out of their rooms

The Korean media in the mid-2000s paid attention to hikikomori, a concept built in Japan referring to young people cooped up at their home or home of their parents without trying to find jobs or socialize in the aftermath of economic downturn in the 1990s. Korean scholars translated the term into “reclusive loners” and raised concerns as Korean youths were increasingly joining the phenomenon as they spend all day playing computer games after giving up studying or finding a job. But the government paid little attention to the alarming development. The government pledged to take action when a loner committed a serious crime, but it wasted 10 years without any follow-up measures.

The problem has worsened in the meantime. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the number of social recluses aged from 19 to 39 are estimated to have reached 540,000, which account for five percent of the population in the same age. A survey on 20,000 of them who still are — or have been — in voluntary seclusion found 75.4 percent of them holding a university degree. Another 5.6 percent had a master’s or higher degree. Social withdrawals usually spanned from one to three years (26.3 percent). But 6.1 percent said that they had been in the condition for more than 10 years. Three out of four recluses thought of taking the extreme measure of ending their lives.

The reclusive loners generally turn away from society due to their repeated failure to get a job and psychological pressure from intense competition. Automation has made job findings for low-skilled and low-educated young people harder. Society must not blame them for laziness or a lack of efforts.

The government is finally paying attention to the deepening problem. It will open a call center and aid offices across four regions. The government plans to expand the policy after two-year trial. It must work towards productive outcome before it’s too late.

In Japan, another novel term, “8050,” has come to public attention. It refers to people in their 50s relying on support from their parents in their 80s. Sometimes, even parents in their 90s support their sixtysomething offspring. The Japanese government has been working on the issue for three decades, and yet the hikkomori phenomenon only worsened.

We could be heading towards the same direction. But the process and end will be even worse as the Korean government has responded more slowly than Japan. Young people must be able to work and mingle with others in society. The government must not skimp on the problem because it is directly connected to the depopulation issue the country faces.