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SCMP’s Asia desk

In South Korea’s capital, more than one in three people live alone, creating headaches when it comes time to visit hospital or simply move home.
But Seoul has a solution: a “companion service” that dispatches helpers to assist solo residents with tasks that are hard to manage without a second pair of hands.
On Sunday, the city’s government announced that the programme, which began more than four years ago as a hospital escort service, would soon be expanded to cover moving day logistics and emotional support, The Korea Herald reported.
“Any Seoul resident living alone can use the companion services,” Welfare Policy Director Yoon Jong-jang said in a statement.
“We will continue to expand tailored support so that people can manage daily life without difficulty as the number of single-person households grows.”
Single-person households accounted for about 36 per cent of all South Korean households as of 2024, according to a Korea Times report from December last year – making it the most common living arrangement in the country.
Nearly half of those living alone reported often or sometimes feeling lonely, a rate sharply higher than the national average of 38.2 per cent.


From next month, residents of Seoul will be able to hire companions to accompany them not just to hospitals but also to rehabilitation and health screening facilities, staying for the duration of each visit and helping them navigate the medical bureaucracy.
The service is set to cost 6,000 won (US$4) per hour, up from the current 5,000 won, with the maximum number of uses capped at 10 sessions a month or 200 hours a year. Those earning below the median income will be able to access 48 free sessions annually.
Since its launch in November 2021, Seoul’s hospital escort service has been used some 70,000 times with satisfaction rates above 90 per cent, according to officials.
For residents tackling the logistical gauntlet of moving home alone, The Korea Herald reported that companions would be available for up to six hours on moving day to help with household inspections, change-of-address registration and utility bill settlements, among other administrative procedures.
It was unclear if the service, which began as a pilot programme in February, extended to help with moving furniture or unpacking.
Meanwhile, a dedicated call line is being set up to connect lonely residents with companions for conversation or to refer them to mental health welfare centres where appropriate.

Japan’s shared struggles
South Korea is not alone in confronting this new reality. In Japan, single-person households made up a comparable share of the total – roughly 34 per cent – as of 2023, the news site nippon.com reported.
Japan’s government has moved to address the problem at the national level, appointing a minister for social isolation and loneliness in 2021 and passing legislation in April 2024 that formally recognised loneliness and isolation as a national issue.
Still, the country’s youth appear to have internalised a bleak outlook about their futures, with Japanese teenagers the most pessimistic among their peers across six nations, according to a survey by the Nippon Foundation reported by the Japan Times on Wednesday.
The poll of 1,000 respondents aged 17 to 19 in Japan, the US, China, South Korea, Britain and India found that only around 62 per cent of Japanese teenagers said they had a dream for their future: the lowest share of any country surveyed.
Only around 16 per cent believed their country’s future would improve, while the proportion who said they wanted to get married fell by 7.4 percentage points compared to a similar survey in 2022, to 58.1 per cent – a figure that carries long-term implications for a super-aged society already grappling with a demographic crunch.


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South Korea offers US$4-an-hour helpers for solo residents of capital

People walk through Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, South Korea, earlier this month. Photo: AFP

A woman walks a designated smoking area in Tokyo’s Ginza district on April 7. Japan has passed legislation to formally recognise loneliness as a nation issue. Photo: AFP

‘Super-aged’ Singapore’s secret to growing old well? Stay busy

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Agnes Chen, a 74-year-old retiree and carer for her elderly sister-in-law, visits the Yong-en Active Hub at least once a week to socialise and learn new skills. Photo: Kolette Lim

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A carer walks with an eldery woman at a park in Singapore. Photo: AFP

Elderly women use sewing machines at the Yong-en Active Hub in Singapore. Photo: Kolette Lim

As loneliness epidemic spreads through South Korea, Seoul is spending millions to fight it

People walk across a road in Seoul. South Korea’s capital is at the epicentre of the nation’s social isolation epidemic, with people living alone now making up more than 35 per cent of all households in the capital, according to The Korea Herald. Photo: AFP

According to a recent Seoul Institute survey, 62 per cent of single-person households have reported experiencing loneliness. Photo: Shutterstock

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South Korea’s ‘Warmth Mailbox’ delivers handwritten hope in an age of digital loneliness

Jeong Seung-won, a 25-year-old university student, writes a response to a letter submitted through the “Warmth Mailbox”. Photo: Lee Seung-ku

Cho Hyun-sik, founder of Ongi, the non-profit organisation behind the “Warmth Mailbox” at the Ongi headquarters, located in southern Seoul. Photo: Kim Jung-yeop

Letters submitted through the “Warmth Mailbox” are stacked in front of the headquarters for Ongi, the non-profit organisation that runs the initiative. Photo: Kim Jung-yeop

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The city’s ‘companion service’ aims to help single-person households move house or visit hospital


The city’s ‘companion service’ aims to help single-person households move house or visit hospital.


Japan

Ageing society

Seoul

South Korea offers US$4-an-hour helpers for solo residents of capital

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The city’s ‘companion service’ aims to help single-person households move house or visit hospital

The city’s ‘companion service’ aims to help single-person households move house or visit hospital