More than 1.5 million Koreans are at risk of what is commonly referred to as "lonely death," accounting for 3 percent of the country's population, a government survey showed last week. According to a separate report released last year, Korea saw 3,378 lonely deaths in 2021, growing at an average annual rate of 8.8 percent over the past five years. All this shows that middle-aged or elderly Korean men today, driven out of jobs and homes, are the most vulnerable group. In Japan, karoshi (death from overwork) and kodokushi (lonely death) were social problems in the 2000s. Releasing the first survey results on lonely death, the Ministry of Health and Welfare vowed to reduce the number by 20 percent until 2027.

Source: The Times May 21, 2023 20:01 UTC