Seoul, October 17 (IANS). A report has revealed that last year in South Korea, more than 3,600 people died due to loneliness. Most of these were middle-aged and older men.
According to the Yonhap news agency, figures from the Ministry of Health and Welfare show that the number of deaths due to loneliness will increase to 3,661 in 2023, up from 3,559 last year.
This figure shows that out of every 100 deaths in South Korea last year, 1.04 deaths were due to loneliness.
In Korean, Kodoska (death from loneliness) is a situation when a person embraces death due to loneliness. That person becomes socially isolated from people or becomes a victim of age-related illness and commits suicide.
“It appears that loneliness-related deaths among people in their 20s and 30s are caused by failure to get a job or being fired from a job,” said Noh Jung-hoon, a health ministry welfare official.
“We are planning to provide such people access to organizations that help people get jobs and also provide measures to help them improve their health conditions,” he said.
Talking about the data of deaths, 1,146 cases were reported in persons above 60 years of age, 1,097 cases were reported in persons above 50 years of age and 502 cases were reported in persons above 40 years of age.
The report also revealed that the number of men accounts for 84.1 percent of the total deaths due to loneliness, which is much higher than the number of women.
Meanwhile, suicides accounted for 14.1 percent of total deaths due to loneliness in 2023, down slightly from 17.3 percent in 2021.
However, the suicide rate in 2022 was 59.5 percent and in 2023 the rate was 71.7 percent. His age was above 20 years.
-IANS
MKS/KR
