Most singles in Seoul are blue-collar workers and live around the circular Subway Line 2. That emerges from a demographic report on the city published Wednesday by Byun Mi-ree, a research fellow at the Seoul Development Institute. It finds that in 75 out of 525 "dong," or wards, single-person households accounted for over 30 percent, and in 11 dong near metro stations on Subway Line 2, singles accounted for more than half. The data used is the 2005 census by the National Statistical Office.

Byun said the main reason they are concentrated along Subway Line 2 is access to public transport, since 51 percent of single householders rely on it to commute whereas only 15 percent used their own cars. Singles therefore tend to choose a home close to work or with easy access to public transport. By contrast, couples and families consider access to better education for children a priority in choosing their home.

The overwhelming majority of singles in Seoul or 76 percent earned less than W2 million (US$1=W1,375) a month, and 45 percent even earned less than W1 million. More than half had blue-collar jobs such as sales service (26 percent), unskilled administration (10 percent), and skilled labor (9 percent).

"Since single householders have emerged as a new social group, we urgently need to come up with policies for them, such as housing plans that provide smaller apartments in view of their low level of income and high mobility," Byun said.