Elder Abuse

[Anchor Lead]

As Korea rapidly transitions into an aged society, a growing number of seniors in the nation fall victim to domestic violence. But few of them report such crimes to the authorities, as in most cases the perpetrators are acquaintances or relatives. Here's more on elder abuse.

[Pkg]

This 74-year-old woman ended up calling the police last month because her son physically abused her. He attacked her because she refused to help him receive a loan by providing her house as collateral.

[Soundbite] (Victim of Elder Abuse (Voice modified)) : "He keeps drinking and asking me to help him get KRW 50 Mn (USD 44,000) in loans."

To avoid domestic violence, the woman has been hiding from her son over the past three years. The number of elder abuse cases in Korea surged more than 12 percent from 3,800 two years ago to more than 4,200 last year. A whopping 74 percent of perpetrators turned out to be family members, including sons, spouses and daughters. Most elder abuses cases occurred at home. This center was set up to help the victims of elder abuse. It provides psychiatric therapy and music classes, but patients can stay here only for up to four months.

[Soundbite] (Victim of Elder Abuse (Voice modified)) : "They accepted me here, but I have to leave in two days. I'm very upset."

There are only 16 such centers nationwide. Many are calling for opening more centers and increasing the period of stay.

[Soundbite] Kim Ji-soon(Gyeonggi Bukbu Center for Protection of Elderly) : "It takes one full day to visit each victim of abuse. I wish there were more centers nationwide."

The population of people who are over 65 years old in Korea has surpassed 7.1 million. It is predicted to exceed 14 percent of the entire population next year, which is the threshold of an aged society.