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3 million in Seoul at risk of net addiction
DEC 8, 2002
3 million in Seoul at risk of Net addiction
With half the nation wired up, the government has set up a counselling centre to tackle the disorder
By Caroline Gluck
IN SEOUL
SEOUL - For over three days in October, Mr Kim Kyung Jae, 24, was holed up in an Internet cafe in the city of Kwangju playing computer games.
He played virtually non-stop, taking only toilet or cigarette breaks.
He collapsed after 86 hours at the terminal and later died.
His mother Choi Yong Soon is still trying to make sense of his death.
'I told him not to spend so much time on the Internet. He just said 'Yes, mum', and kept on playing,' she said.
His death is an extreme example of a growing problem in South Korea - Internet addiction.
South Korea is one of the most wired societies in the world. More than half the population has access to the Internet.
Over 10 million people have high-speed Internet services and there are more than 25,000 24-hour cybercafes, known as PC bangs.
Said detective Hong Gun Hee, who is investigating Mr Kim's death: 'These days, there aren't many places where young people can go.
'PC bangs are open 24 hours a day - and there is every potential that another case like this could happen again.'
With more than 30 per cent of Internet users here thought to be at risk of addiction, efforts are under way to try to tackle the growing problem.
In April, the Centre for Internet Addiction Prevention and Counselling - the first such government-funded body - began operating.
Psychologist Lee Sujin of the centre says young people are most at risk.
He said: 'We diagnose Internet addiction as a compulsive disorder like pathological gambling or eating disorder.
'Youngsters who become obsessed with the Internet do badly at school, have less interaction with their family and friends and get lonelier.
The centre's experts say Internet addiction has less to do with the number of hours spent online - addicts typically spend more than four hours - and more with the central role that computers and the Internet play in his or her life.
Symptoms include preoccupation with the Internet, inability to perform routine tasks, and nervousness and anxiety when not online.
At a counselling session, Ki Kyoung Soo, 17, admitted he typically spent half a day online.
'If I went home at 5 pm, I'd play until 2 am. In the holidays, I'd play until 5 am - 12 straight hours,' he said.
'I had trouble sleeping. When I was in bed, I would stay awake...just wanting to play games again. It's very addictive; I want to try to stop.'
But counsellor Lhee Hurn Gyu, who holds the weekly sessions, said he was not advocating a ban on Internet usage.
'We're not trying to stop Internet usage altogether,' he added.
'The Internet is something we live with and we need to use. What we are trying to do here is to control and reduce the time that people spend on the Internet.'
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Copyright @ 2002 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.
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12-08-2002 02:10 PM
