"lonely death" (godoksa, 고독사) in South Korea

I've never thought specifically about the problem of lonely deaths in modern South Korea, but it's not surprising to find out that it's very much a thing here. There's plenty of alienation, especially in the big cities, and in a group-first culture like Korea's, people without a personal support network easily fall through the cracks and disappear. I stumbled upon this rather sad video in which we hear the testimony of a "trauma cleaner" whose job is to be on the scene after someone's death, to organize and collect that person's affairs, and, if possible, to give those possessions to relatives or friends who might be interested in them. Here's the video:

Singleton that I am, I fully expect to die alone someday unless I happen to fall in love and belatedly start a family. But the window of opportunity for that is dwindling fast.