Ministry of Science and ICT Announces Results of 2019 Smartphone Overdependence Survey
Up 20% year-on-year · Infants and children in dual-income households show the largest increase

It was found that 20% of smartphone users in Korea prioritize smartphone use in their daily lives and are experiencing problems.

According to the '2019 Survey on Smartphone Overdependence' conducted by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Information Society Agency on 28,592 smartphone and internet users aged 3 to 69 in 10,000 households nationwide, the proportion of smartphone users in Korea at risk of overdependence (high-risk group, potential-risk group) was 20.0%, an increase of 0.9%p compared to the previous year.
By age group, the group at risk of overdependence among young children (ages 3 to 9) increased by 2.2 percentage points compared to the previous year, showing the largest increase. The proportion of adults (ages 20–59) and those in their 60s was also found to be increasing every year, and the proportion of youth (ages 10–19), which had slowed down somewhat in 2018, also shifted to an upward trend in 2019.

The risk of overdependence among young children and adolescents was relatively vulnerable when parents were in the overdependence risk group or when they were from dual-income households.
In a survey asking about perceptions of smartphone overdependence, 78.7% of respondents answered that it was serious, and it was found that the overdependence risk group (83.9%) perceived the smartphone overdependence problem as more serious than the general user group (77.5%).

As solutions to resolve overdependence, alternative leisure activities (when the problem-solving entity is an individual), guidance and warnings regarding excessive use (when the problem-solving entity is a company), and education to resolve smartphone overdependence (when the problem-solving entity is the government) were each ranked as the top priority.

The rate of experience with smartphone overdependence prevention education was 18.7%, an increase of 0.9p from the previous year, and among those who experienced the prevention education, the percentage of respondents who said it was helpful also increased to 70.6%, up 5.9%p from last year.
The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to expand experiential preventive education for young children to help them form proper smartphone usage habits early on, and plans to build and operate a website within this year that can provide integrated guidance on services for preventing and resolving digital dysfunctions in cooperation with relevant ministries.

Park Yoon-kyu, Director General of Information and Communication Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, “In this digital age where the frequency of exposure to various digital devices, such as smartphones, is increasing, we need to reflect on our own dependency levels,” adding, “We will pursue various policies, including customized preventive education for each life stage, the development of content to prevent over-dependence, and public-private cooperation to raise awareness.”

Meanwhile, this survey scored the subjects' condition using a smartphone overdependence scale and classified them into high-risk, potential-risk, and general user groups based on the standard score for each age group. The high-risk group refers to cases where there are serious problems in interpersonal relationships, health, and daily life due to a loss of control over smartphone use, while the potential-risk group refers to cases where control over smartphone use has weakened, causing problems in interpersonal relationships, health, and daily life to begin to occur.