Gwangju City’s ‘Reclusive Hermit Survey’...Nation’s First

Gwangju City Hall

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 3rd that it will conduct the nation's first survey on reclusive loners targeting Gwangju citizens.

A reclusive loner refers to a person who, due to a complex combination of various social, economic, and cultural reasons, lives isolated from the outside world in their own limited space for a certain period or longer, making normal social activities significantly difficult.

This survey is conducted based on the "Gwangju Metropolitan City Reclusive Loner Support Ordinance," which was enacted nationwide for the first time last year. The survey results will be used as basic data to understand the current status and living conditions of reclusive loners and to establish support policies.

The survey targets approximately 56,000 households, randomly sampling 10% of apartment complexes in the Gwangju area, and will be conducted over one month starting from the 21st of last month.

The survey method involves receiving a notice containing a QR code for online participation sent to each household's apartment mailbox or management fee bill. If the respondent or their family members correspond to reclusive loners, they can participate by scanning the QR code or entering the online address on a smartphone or computer. Additionally, for those who wish to participate in the survey, one-on-one in-depth interviews will also be conducted.

Ryu Mi-su, Director of the Social Welfare Division of the city, said, "Although reclusive loners have become a social issue, there has been no administrative-level investigation into how many there actually are and what difficulties they face. We hope citizens will take an interest and participate so that this survey can be successfully carried out."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.