Abstract

South Korea is one of the many countries that is rapidly becoming an aged society. However, the Korean society still places the responsibility of helping the elderly onto their family members, as is the typical custom. The government has not made sufficient effort to facilitate social work agencies for the people and by far rank the lowest among OECD nations (OECD, 2009). In order to understand the issue of poverty among the elderly as well as their social isolation, this study adopts the “social exclusion theory” because it overarches into both the economic strain and social isolation. As a way of understanding how seriously the Korean elderly are suffering under such unequal system, this study explores the actual needs of the elderly by interviewing an old woman in a typical elderly community.