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Mold grows on a pot of kimchi stew that has been left on the stove of a victim of lonely death (godoksa) in the Eunpyeong district of Seoul in April 2016. Lonely death among senior citizens represents a growing problem in South Korea

With one of the world’s highest rates of elderly poverty and an explosive increase in the number of single elderly households, one might conclude that dying alone is a problem chiefly for elderly South Koreans in their sixties and over. But statistics show the shadow of lonely death looming more heavily over middle-aged people in their forties and fifties than those over 60. It is a phenomenon unique to South Korea – precedents are difficult to find even in Japan, which was first to deal with the “lonely death” issue.

“The Japanese are astonished to learn that lonely death in South Korea is mostly a phenomenon among people in their forties and fifties,” said Song In-ju, a researcher at the Seoul Welfare Foundation studying lonely deaths in South Korea. Lonely deaths are not often seen among middle-aged people in Japan, where the concept of lifelong employment still holds strong. With South Korea’s low retirement age and a continued failure to revise its welfare system, middle-aged people enter a high risk group for lonely death upon early retirement.

“Retired South Korean men are prone to social isolation, believing they have lost their value with the loss of their economic strength,” Song said.

A brief on employment trends published in Mar. 2017 by the Korea Employment Information Service (KEIS) put South Korean males’ average age of retirement from their main employment at 51.6 years as of 2016. The early age leads to a high proportion of lonely deaths among those in their fifties.

According to a study on lonely deaths in Seoul and support measures published by the Seoul Welfare Foundation in Dec. 2016, people in their fifties accounted for 58 of 162 confirmed lonely death cases in 2013. At 35.8%, they represented the largest proportion by age group, followed by people aged 40–49 (34 cases, 21%) and 60–69 (32 cases, 20%).

People aged 50–59 also accounted for 524 out of 2,181 suspected lonely death cases, outnumbering people aged 70–79 by six percentage points. With males accounting for an overwhelming majority of victims – 84.57% of the 162 confirmed cases – the phenomenon appears to be a crisis particularly for men in their fifties. The nonprofit private group Good Naneum (goodnanum.or.kr), which provides assistance with funerals for basic livelihood security recipients and people without family or friends, supported funeral procedures for 84 men in their fifties last year, representing the largest segment out of its 288 cases.

The situation is quite different from the experience of Japan, which was first to contend with the lonely death phenomenon. There, lonely deaths occur mostly among retired senior citizens aged 65 and over. In the ten years between 1999 and 2008, the number of lonely death cases in Japan nearly tripled from 207 to 613. Cases involving seniors 65 and older more than quadrupled over the same period from 94 to 426 – indicating that the rise in lonely deaths has been particularly prominent among senior citizens.

Civic groups providing assistance with lonely death cases are also troubled over the isolation and vulnerability seen among South Korean men in their fifties. Good Naneum, which assists with funerals and disposing of the personal effects of victims, joined forces with Mapo Hope Sharing (mapohope.org) in a relationship-building campaign targeting residents over and under 65. But all three of the selected men in their fifties refused relationships. “I’m not at the stage where I need help,” said one. “Why should I do that?” asked another.

“People 65 and over are relatively easy to reach, but men in their fifties are different,” a staff member of Good Naneum said. “They react as though getting help would injure their pride. They’re so used to the patriarchal system and organizational culture, and they don’t seem accustomed to supporting or communicating with each other.”

All deaths are individual events, but they also have a social side. As president of Hardworks (hardworks.kr), a cleaning company specializing in lonely death cases, Kim Wan encounters the things left behind when people die alone.

“You often see antidepressant prescriptions and alcohol bottles at the scenes of these deaths,” he said.

“When you’re cleaning places where someone in their fifties or younger died, it’s common to find résumés,” he added.

Kim also recalled traveling to Geoje Island around two or three times a month last summer.

“I think it had to do with the shipbuilding industry recession,” he said.

Sungkyunkwan University sociology professor Koo Jeong-woo described the years from 50 to 59 as “the gateway to elderly poverty.”

“Exposure to poverty after retirements results in scenarios of death due to alcohol dependency and disease,” he said.

Koo also observed that economic conflict “breeds family disintegration and lonely deaths.”

“Lonely deaths stand alongside suicides as social deaths that need to be examined seriously,” he said.

Sangmyung University family and welfare studies professor Hong Yeong-jun explained, “Involuntary isolation is a characteristic of a person’s fifties.”

“Regions need to be taking more notice, but they are not seen as the traditional welfare beneficiary segment, so they end up more isolated,” he said.

Hong went on to call for a more finely-honed approach to support policies for people in their fifties.

“When you’re dealing with visits by the government or private organizations, it raises privacy issues and concerns about being labelled,” he said. “Some people may perceive it as an attack, thinking, ‘I’m not going to die, yet society treats me like I’m about to.’”

“There needs to be a careful approach so that it doesn’t feel like the group is encroaching on the individual,” he suggested.

By Jang Su-kyung, staff reporter

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