The growing number of young South Koreans who do not leave their room (some even to go to the bathroom)

In 2019, Yoo Seung-gyu left the studio where he lived for the first time in five years.

The 30-year-old South Korean first cleaned up his “messy apartment” with his brother. Then he went on a sea fishing expedition, with hermits like him whom he had met through a charity.

“It was a strange feeling to be in the sea, but at the same time it was very refreshing after the isolation. It felt unreal, but it was there. It existed,” Yoo said.

A growing number of young South Koreans are choosing to isolate themselves, withdrawing completely from a society that charges a high price for failing to live up to expectations.

These hermits are known as hikikomoria term first coined in Japan in the 1990s to describe the severe social distancing of adolescents and young adults.

In South Korea, which has the world’s lowest fertility rate and declining productivity, this has become a serious problem.

So much so that the authorities offer young hermits who fall within a certain income limit a monthly payment to persuade them to leave their homes.

Those between the ages of nine and 24 who come from low-income families can receive up to the equivalent of US$490 per month to support themselves.

They can also apply for grants for a number of services, including health, education, counseling, legal assistance, cultural activities, and even “appearance and scar correction.”

The aim of these incentives is “to enable detained youth to resume their daily lives and reintegrate into society,” said South Korea’s Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Affairs.

It defines young hermits as “adolescents who have lived for extended periods of time in a confined space, disconnected from the outside world, and who have great difficulty leading a normal life”.

But throwing money at the problem won’t make it go awayconfirm the young people who have isolated themselves.

Yoo now runs a business that supports young inmates called not scary (He’s not scary), a far cry from the days when he wouldn’t even leave his room to go to the bathroom.

But the journey out of isolation has been full of ups and downs. He first withdrew from the outside world at the age of 19, came out of that situation for two years to complete his compulsory military service, and then locked himself up again for two years.

“It’s Not a Matter of Money”

Park Tae-hong, another 34-year-old former recluse, explained that self-isolation can be “comforting” for some. “When you try new things it’s exciting, but at the same time you have to endure certain levels of fatigue and anxiety. However, if you’re just in your room, you don’t have to feel that way. But it’s not good in the long run.”

About 340,000 people between the ages of 19 and 39 in the country, or 3% of that age group, consider themselves lonely or isolatedaccording to the Korean Institute of Health and Social Affairs.

Research has also shown a growing share of single-person households in South Korea, which will make up about a third of all households by 2022. At the same time, the number of people experiencing “lonely death” in the country has risen.

But money, or the lack of it, it is not what motivates these young people to isolate themselves.

“They come from different economic backgrounds,” says Park. “I wonder why the government associates isolation with financial status. Not all hermit youths have economic difficulties”.

“People in dire need of money may be forced to adapt to society. There are just a lot of different cases,” he added.

For example, both he and Yoo received financial support from their parents while they were in prison.

“Culture of Shame”

What is common among young hermits is the belief that they have not met the standards of success demanded by society or their families. Some they feel like misfits because they don’t pursue a conventional careerwhile others may have been criticized for poor academic performance.

Yoo said she went to college because her father wanted her to, but he dropped out a month later.

“Going to university made me feel ashamed. Why couldn’t I be free to choose [mi propia carrera de estudios]? I was very miserable,” he said. She also didn’t feel like she could talk to her parents about it.

“Korea’s ‘culture’ of shame makes it harder for hermits to talk about their problems,” Yoo said. “One day I came to the conclusion that my life was going wrong and I started applying for asylum.”

During his isolation he didn’t even go to the toilet because he didn’t want to see his family.

For Park, for his part, the peer pressure was complicated by a strained relationship with his family.

“My mother and father often fought since I was a child. That also affected my school life. School in Korea can be very difficult and I found it difficult. I couldn’t take care of myself,” Park said.

She started therapy sessions in 2018 when she was 28 and is now gradually getting her social life back on track.

The expectations of a conventional society

Young people in South Korea feel ‘oppressed’ because society expects people to behave a certain way when they reach a certain age, says Kim Soo Jin, an executive at Seed:s, which also specializes in hikikomori programs.

“If they can’t live up to these expectations, they think ‘I’ve failed’, ‘I’m already too late’. This kind of social environment depresses their self-esteem and can ultimately isolate them from society,” he added.

Seed:s runs a physical space they’ve dubbed the “mole tunnel” where hermits can rest, spend quiet time, and seek advice. Their programs are open to everyone, regardless of income.

A society where young people a wide range of employment and training opportunities it would be more welcoming to isolated individuals, says Kim.

“Young hermits want a workplace where they can think, ‘Oh, I can do this, it’s not that hard. I think I can learn more here and then step into the real world,” he said.

Park also hopes that Korean society will one day be more understanding of young people with unconventional interests.

“At the moment we just force them to study. That’s very uniform. We need to give young people the freedom to find things they like and are good at,” he said.

The living allowance could be a “first step” to addressing the problem, but those who work with young people say that money could be better spent. They believe that funding organizations and programs targeting isolated youth by providing them with counseling or vocational training would have a far greater impact.

“The next step should be the preparation of free, high-quality national programs for isolated youth. Currently, there are a very limited number of programs and centers where isolated youth can participate and feel a sense of belonging,” said Kim Hye Won, Chief Executive Officer of PIE for Youth, an organization that offers several programs for young prisoners and their carers.

However, she is thrilled the South Korean government has been trying to address the problem since adolescence.

“It’s good to see that [las nuevas medidas] They target teenagers. I think adolescence is the golden time to avoid isolation, because most adolescents are part of a community, such as a school. After that it becomes very difficult to find those people.”

Yoo explained that he has come out of isolation gradually and only after meeting other former hermits through a now non-existent rehabilitation group called K2 International.

“Once I got help from others, I started to realize that this is not just my problem, but society’s problem,” he said.

“And finally I could slowly come out of my isolation.”