Twenty-nine-year-old Ju Sun-jin is always tired. She sleeps less than six hours a day, working day jobs and sometimes even part-time ones to make ends meet.
The fatigue has become chronic but haunts her all day long, she said.
"Especially after having a cup of coffee at lunch time, the extreme weariness tortures me," she said.
Is there a way she can have more sleep? "I don't know. Sometimes we joke that we don't have time to die," she said.
But Koreans do need more sleep. The lack of rest has become a serious issue here as more people suffer extreme fatigue which leads to a substantial amount of socioeconomic loss, according to a group of doctors.
The Korean Academy of Sleep Medicine (KASM) surveyed 554 salaried workers and found that the average amount of time people spent sleeping was 6.5 hours a day, more than a full hour lower than the average 7.75 hours of sleep people get in the U.S.
Doctors recommend between seven to eight hours a day.
The respondents said it takes about 17 minutes for them to fall asleep after lying down and 19.5 percent still didn't feel refreshed when they woke up.
Fifty-six percent, or 310 people, said the lack of sleep affects their daytime activities ― 41.3 percent could not complete their given tasks because of fatigue. Some 12.6 percent, or 70 percent, have experienced work-related or traffic accidents while dozing.
The academy assumed that the accumulated amount of time affected by such sleep-deprived status amounts to 771 hours and 31 minutes a year for a worker, which adds up to about two hours and 40 minutes a day.
This lack of sleep causes an estimated 15.9 million won in socioeconomic costs per person a year, the research said, citing being late for work and less productiveness as factors behind the costs.
"Many developed countries are gearing up to solve current sleep issues. The study shows that sleep is more than a personal matter and can affect business activities and moreover, a whole industry," said Yu Bum-hee, the head of the group.
한국인 수면 더 취해야
주순진씨 (29)은 항상 피곤을 느낀다. 하루에 여섯 시간도 자지 못하는데다, 본업에 부업도 할 때가 있기 때문이다.
피곤은 만성적인 것이 되어, 항상 주씨를 괴롭힌다.
“점심 먹고 커피마시고 나면 엄청난 피로가 엄습한다’고 그녀는 밝혔다.
주씨가 이를 해결할 수 있는 방법은 있을까? “글쎄요. 우리끼리 죽을 시간도 없다고 하는걸요” 라고 그녀는 말했다.
한국인들의 수면부족으로 인해 오는 피로로 초래되는 사회과학적 손실은 엄청나다고 한국수면학회가 지적했다. 이런 사회과학적 손실은 한해 1인당 천오백구십만원에 달하는 비용을 유발한다. 이는 늦게까지 일하는데서 또한 생산성 저하로부터 기인한다.
학회가 554명의 회사원을 조사한 결과 이들은 하루 평균 6.5 시간을 잤는데, 이는 미국인의 평균 7.75 시간에 비해 한 시간 정도 모자란 양이다.
![[INTERVIEW] Ahn Hyo-seop wanted to share dedicated love with 'A Time Called You'](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/cb0026a0ef9e445fb850c720b307e5cd.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
