Students on Their Way to School (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 26 (Korea Bizwire) — A growing number of South Korea’s isolated and withdrawn youth are attempting to reenter daily life through study and hobbies, but nearly 40% ultimately fall back into isolation, according to the country’s first nationwide survey on the issue released Tuesday.
The Korean Youth Policy Institute’s 2024 National Survey on Isolated and Withdrawn Youth reveals concerning mental and physical health indicators among this demographic, with 62.5% of respondents admitting they had considered suicide and nearly half perceiving themselves as physically unwell.
Isolated youth are defined as those without emotional support or emergency help networks, while withdrawn youth are those who rarely leave their homes or engage in social activity.
The online survey, conducted from June to August 2024, targeted 19,160 individuals aged 9 to 24. It found that 12.6% identified as isolated and 16% as withdrawn — meaning nearly three in ten Korean youth are disconnected from broader society. An extreme high-risk subgroup, who reported not leaving their rooms, accounted for 2.1%.
Students take a mock college entrance examination at a high school in Seoul on June 18, 2020, amid the prolonged coronavirus outbreak. (Yonhap)
Female youth comprised 70.1% of the isolated and withdrawn group, more than double the male share. While researchers expected higher male representation, they hypothesized that young men may be less likely to report or acknowledge their withdrawal. The majority of these youth (72.3%) began isolating before the age of 18.
Relationship difficulties were the most common cause, cited by 65.5% of respondents. Nearly half (48.9%) reported poor physical health, and 60.6% said their mental health was poor. More than two-thirds worried about how others perceived them, and 63.1% expressed hopelessness about the future.
Only 25.5% reported eating regular meals, while 56.7% lived with reversed sleep patterns. Despite these challenges, 71.7% said they wanted to escape their current situation, and 55.8% had attempted to reconnect with society.
The most common approaches included starting work or study (52.6%) and taking up hobbies (50.6%). Yet 39.7% relapsed into isolation.
The reasons for relapse included exhaustion (30.7%), unresolved underlying problems (20.9%), financial or time constraints (17.4%), and ineffective interventions (12.6%). Over half (50.6%) cited a lack of desire to seek help, while others said they did not know where to turn (20.2%) or were deterred by costs (8%).
When asked what support they needed, the youth overwhelmingly requested safe, judgment-free spaces to spend time (79.5%), financial assistance (77.7%), support for solitary hobbies and cultural activities (77.4%), and career development programs (75.1%).
Alarmingly, nearly 30% of their families were unaware of their children’s isolation, and 27.2% did not consider it a serious problem.
Choi Hong-il, the researcher who led the survey, emphasized the need for family-based therapy programs and targeted policy interventions to help youth build social skills and reengage with society.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family acknowledged the need for ongoing, systematic studies and said it is evaluating whether to conduct future surveys independently or in coordination with the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
