[SBS News] 'Out of the Closet'

'Hikikomori' is a new term coined in Japan in the 1990s. People who do not interact with the world and stay at home for six months or more. In our words, it is translated as 'seclusion-type loner.'

The reporters found a group living space operated by a social enterprise.

All the people who lived here were those who had lived in seclusion in the past. They were living in a space and running a restaurant together. The whole space where they live and work together has become a place of new socialization.

In Korea, there is no clear standard for 'seclusion-type loner', and a proper survey has not been conducted. In addition, the false social perception that the secluded lonely people regard as "antisocial" makes them easily associated with crime.

One expert explained that the clandestine loners are "people with broken hearts, people who are hurt" and said it is necessary to approach them from a social point of view rather than a matter of seclusion alone.

People in the room. Is there any way they can safely return to society? In <NewsTri>, I try to highlight the life of the 'secluded type'.

(Cover: Kim Seung Pil / Image: Kim Choa / Scripter: Oh Hyun Sun)