South Korea’s ‘grey digital divide’ leaves seniors pleading for help

A little cheer rose for 79-year-old Hwang Sun-hee after she managed to place an online order at a training session in South Korea, which has one of the world’s starkest digital divides for seniors.

Age gaps in digital literacy are a global concern, yet the gulf has widened massively in the hyper-connected and fast-ageing country, prompting national campaigns to bridge it.

“You can’t do anything without smartphone apps or a kiosk machine ... It’s too much for old folks,” Hwang said at a senior community centre in Suwon, south of Seoul, during government-organised digital survival training.

The so-called grey digital divide has provided some striking examples in the nation of about 52 million, home to world-leading smartphone and memory chipmakers.

Last year, several baseball clubs began reserving a small number of tickets for on-site sales after reports that older fans, cash in hand, approached younger people at stadiums and pleaded with them to buy tickets from machines.

Nearly 90 per cent of taxi drivers use ride-hailing apps, yet more than 80 per cent of South Koreans over 60 still hail cabs by hand, a survey showed.