(Illustration by Raffi Marhaba, The Dream Creative)
“For one year I didn’t even leave my house. During that time, I didn’t bathe, and I couldn’t even open a window for fear of seeing my dirty reflection,” said a young woman who has lived as a recluse for more than 10 years in an interview with the Korean Broadcasting System.
A young man who developed a fear of people after being bullied in his first year of middle school eventually dropped out of high school and became a recluse for eight years. In an interview with the Korean weekly newspaper Hankyoreh 21, he said, “I was afraid of people. I felt like they were carnivores. I couldn’t even eat lunch because I was afraid to go to the school cafeteria.”
These are just two of many experiences among young Koreans who have voluntarily excluded themselves from society, a phenomenon known as extreme social withdrawal (ESW). ESW describes a condition where individuals stay in a confined space with minimal social interaction for an extended time. It often happens due to work-related or interpersonal challenges, and in Korea, it’s remarkably common.
Based on a 2023 survey by the South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare of more than 20,000 people aged 19-39, the South Korean government estimated the number of young individuals experiencing ESW (young ESWs) at 540,000 or 5 percent of the 11 million young adults in South Korea. Significant as that number is, the self-isolation of ESWs makes it particularly difficult to assess how many young people are affected, and it may be even more widespread. A 2022 survey of 800 young adults aged 19-34 by the youth arts and culture nonprofit Oneul (“Today”) found that when the threshold for seclusion was lowered from six months or more to one month or more, 26 percent of young adults reported experiencing seclusion.
Young ESWs commonly struggle with hopelessness, loneliness, anxiety, and depression, and are at greater risk of drug dependency and suicide. Their isolation also impacts their families, the potential of the workforce, and the well-being of Korean society more broadly. Apart from the estimated actual cost to society, which the government estimates at $6.5 billion per year, Korea currently faces both the lowest fertility rate in the world and the world’s highest suicide rate. The recovery of young ESWs is therefore not only an individual matter but also one of national importance.
Cultural and institutional forces contribute greatly to the inability of these youth to achieve well-being and actively engage with society. Addressing the problem therefore requires societal effort. Organizations in every sector have a role to play, and experiments are vital to understanding what works. While still small, the nonprofit NEET Lifers is testing a specialized program that removes barriers to the social participation of young ESWs and that may help point the way forward.
ESW in South Korea
The Japanese expression of ESW is hikikomori, a combination of hiku (“to withdraw”) and komoru (“to isolate oneself”). It emerged as a major social issue in Japan in the 1990s and was initially thought to be a uniquely Japanese cultural phenomenon, however, research has shown that ESW is a truly global phenomenon that expresses itself to varying degrees and for different reasons in countries around the world.
In Korea, a 2022 study by Hyewon Kim, a professor of youth culture and counseling at Hoseo University, found that young ESWs often have personality traits such as introversion, low self-esteem, low resilience, and perfectionism. The majority are highly educated (64 percent), economically middle class or above (64 percent), and first-born (60 percent) or have first-born parents (74 percent). The study identified one of the main causes of ESW in South Korea as a Confucian culture that places excessive expectations on the social roles and responsibilities of individuals (especially the first-born child) and that fosters intense competitive pressures related to education and career.
The number of hours young Koreans devote to study reflects the immense pressure on them to work hard and live up to their parents’ expectations. According to a 2018 survey, South Korean primary school students spent an average of 6 hours and 49 minutes a day studying, and only 49 minutes a day on leisure. And according to OECD statistics in 2009, the average weekly study time for Korean high school students was about 50 hours, compared to 32 hours in Japan, 33 hours in the United States, and 30 hours in Finland. The number of hours was even higher according to a 2014 Korean government survey, at 65 hours per week.
For those lucky enough to get into a well-regarded university, the competition for respected and well-paid jobs begins immediately. When the National Association of Business Executives asked the 500 largest companies by revenue about their hiring plans for the second half of 2023, the association predicted an 81:1 competition ratio, meaning only one person per 81 recent university graduates who applied would gain employment.
Kim’s research on the causes of ESW also points to contributing factors like life in a collectivist culture, which makes it difficult for individuals to make their own choices, and experiences with school violence and school-work maladjustment. The same study suggests that ESW results from not just one of these experiences but from overlapping experiences over time and can be aggravated when young people are unable to express the difficulties they face.
Many ESWs also experience a sense of relative deprivation compared to those born with “a gold spoon,” as social structures reinforce the inequitable inheritance of economic, knowledge, and relational capital. According to a 2022 study by Myeong Sook Yoon, a professor of social welfare at Chonbuk National University, this feeling of deprivation among young people and the loss of hope that they can improve their future through their own efforts contribute to the social isolation of young people. In this regard, Korean youth are not alone: Hopelessness among younger generations about their futures is increasing in many countries.
Finally, ESWs are more likely to experience loneliness and, in some cases, more vulnerable to suicide. According to Ji-Won Hur, a professor of psychology at Korea University, people who experience deep loneliness are 4 to 17 times more likely to attempt suicide in their lifetime. In 2020, South Korea's suicide mortality rate was the highest among OECD countries, with rates among young people particularly high. Between 2019 and 2020, the suicide rate among teenagers increased by 9.4 percent, and the suicide rate among people in their 20s jumped by 12.8 percent. Given that many young adults at risk of ESW in South Korea suffer from depression and other mental health problems, they deserve special attention.
The Promise of Relational Programs
Despite the cultural and institutional challenges young ESWs face, many Koreans question whether it’s appropriate for governments and other institutions to support them. “The general perception of society is not favorable,” said Ok-Ran Kim, director of the Blue Whale Recovery Support Center, in an interview with Kyunghyang Daily. “The majority [of people] cannot understand why they should help young people who are hanging around at home [instead of working hard].” This perception reinforces young ESWs’ feelings of self-blame and self-loathing, and makes them even less likely to come out of seclusion to get the support they need.
However, Hyewon Kim’s research indicates that young ESWs have a strong desire and willingness to change. They want relationships with others but need help to escape from their withdrawal. The young ESWs Kim studied identified their main needs as family attention, patience, a sense of belief in themselves, experiencing small successes, counseling or mentoring, and community.
One way to address ESW, therefore, is to develop relational programs that serve these needs. Jolene Yung and her colleagues at the School of Nursing, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, synthesized existing research on intervention methods for the psychosocial recovery of ESWs and identified five domains for building effective recovery programs: connectedness, hope and optimism, identity, meaning in life, and empowerment. These domains can help form the basis of effective relational programs. However, it’s important to note that it’s very difficult for young ESWs to establish new relationships with program providers or practitioners. Even after establishing some rapport, young ESWs may resist or withdraw from activities if they perceive them as coercive or overly intrusive. In this context, Roseline Yong and Yoshihiro Kaneko, professors of public health and mental health, respectively, at Akita University, emphasize the usefulness of self-reflection and dialogue sessions, where young people can talk freely about themselves and their situations. Building relationships with other young ESWs motivates them to change, find their identity, and reconnect with society.
An Exercise in Inclusion
While still limited and experimental, the nonprofit NEET Lifers offers a glimpse of what effective relational programming can look like. Based in Seoul, it aims to help young people who are not in employment, education, or training (NEET) reintegrate. Executive Director Eunmi Park started by developing a single program and later founded the nonprofit when she was unemployed. “Everyone experiences a disconnect from society when they become jobless,” Park said in an interview with the social economy media outlet Eroun.net. “Not belonging to a group shrinks their social circle and makes them feel alone. Their daily routines are disrupted and they feel incompetent or useless, which can lead to depression or panic disorder.”
Inspired by a Japanese comic novel, Paradise Company, where a group of retired men fight against boredom and lethargy by meeting in a café to imitate corporate life, Park originally created a fictional company, NEET Company, in 2019 and began recruiting unemployed young adults as imaginary employees. Though the company did not have a physical office or provide salaries, it allowed young ESWs and other participants to experience what it was like to engage with a real company—including a hiring process, work experience, and a leaving process—in beneficial ways. In 2023, Junghee Bae, a professor of social welfare at Sungkyunkwan University, examined 519 participants who completed the NEET Company program and found that the program enhanced their perceived social support (4.7 percent), psychological vitality (5.4 percent), resilience (7.1 percent), and self-esteem (5.7 percent).
NEET Lifers has since begun offering a program tailored to young ESWs and has so far reached about 1,000 of them. Participants adopt a daily routine similar to those in the workplace, checking in and out online every day, reporting their work, and regularly meeting with colleagues. Each participant sets work goals for themselves (such as studying a foreign language, painting, exercising, or washing dishes) and participates in relational activities such as visiting exhibitions with their colleagues. A typical program lasts 3-4 months, after which participants attend a closing ceremony to share their work and experiences and celebrate their achievements with each other. The program encourages young ESWs to change their mindset and broaden their perspectives regarding career and lifestyle by giving them opportunities to focus on themselves, recover their routines, experience small successes, and most importantly, connect with others.
NEET Lifers has also created new participant-led programs, including NEET Office, an offline community where young people work in groups, and NEET Connect, an online community where unemployed young people meet and develop projects together. Over the past five years, with support from foundations and impact investors, the organization has reached 2,000 young people, helping them regain their inner strength and reconnect with society.
What’s Next
Building consensus that ESW is largely due to social structures and therefore demands social intervention, and developing more system-level supports for young ESWs are important next steps.
Japan offers particularly useful models for support organizations, with more than 1,000 private ESW support institutions. In addition, as of 2019, 67 municipalities across Japan have been operating Hikikomori Regional Support Centers for hikikomori and their families.
In Korea, more nonprofits need to experiment with support programs and engage in advocacy activities to change people’s perceptions, but businesses and government both have strong incentives to join in. The government needs to make efforts to understand the needs of young people with ESW and establish an effective support system. Businesses need to consider using socially focused funds to support effective nonprofit programs. And universities—often the last point of contact for young ESWs before they self-isolate—need to find ways to empower young people in collaboration with other sectors.
The “no one left behind” motto of the UN Sustainable Development Goals highlights the importance of an inclusive society. Extending a hand to the many young people who self-isolate in Korea and around the world is an overlooked but important aspect of achieving that aim, and organizations of all kinds need to find better ways to save, rehabilitate, and reintegrate young ESWs into society.
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Read more stories by Hyun Shin, Jeongwan Pyo & Haeun Kim.