You already could be addicted to something. Can you imagine your life without your smartphone? Besides a smartphone, there are various things that can be addictive; games, shopping, etc. However, there are special cases of addiction that could create a new culture in the world. This CBT reporter would like to talk about the special addictions. –Ed.



  An anonymous student, who is attending CBNU, wakes up using an alarm on his smartphone. Upon opening his eyes, he checks the smartphone and catches up on alerts or texts that he missed while sleeping. On the bus to campus, he listens to his favorite song or watches a webtoon with the smartphone. During the break time, he checks newsfeeds on facebook via that same smartphone. Before he falls asleep, he chats with his friends with his smartphone. His daily life doesn’t seem to have a problem. But, after he took the smartphone addiction test provided by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, he was evaluated as being a smartphone addict. Not only him, according to the National Statistical Office’s Internet addiction survey in 2014, 1 out of 10 smartphone users in Korea was a smartphone addict. The dissemination of smartphones brought life conveniences, but it also brought serious dependence, like our daily lives can’t run smoothly without a smartphone. Besides smartphone addiction, there are other behavioral addictions, such as gaming and gambling, and there are material addictions, such as alcohol and nicotine. The reason why either behavioral or material addictions are a problem is that they are pernicious to physical and mental health. In the case of game addiction, it causes volume reduction of a key part of the brain, which is related to memory powers. To put it simply, it makes you dumb. Also, in the case of alcohol addiction, it causes ill health and it decreases the brain and its overall functions. It is possible to completely quit smoking or drinking. However, overcoming addictions of internet, gaming or smartphones is nearly impossible because those are parts of our lives, so appropriate use is more valid rather than prohibition of use.



  Have you ever heard about the word ‘otaku’? Otaku is a Japanese term for people with obsessive interests in something. Otaku usually represents game addicts and video addicts, so it has negative connotations. Since they were devoted to only one thing, most of the otakus lacked social skills. Besides, some of the major serious criminals in Japan later turned out to be otakus, so otakus were even treated as potential criminals. This Japanese word in Korean is ‘odeokhu’ or ‘deokhu’. Addiction to one thing seems negative, yet the opinions about odeokhu recently have become positive. Park Seung-min(’14, School of Civil Engineering) said, “In the past, odeokhus seemed like social losers, but nowadays they are rather interesting. I think they surpass doctors or experts.” Their own hobbies became interesting popular cultures. SNS accelerated the expansion of odeokhu in the world, from figure shops or comic book stores, where we can most often find them. Moreover, odeokhus even appeared on a TV program. Last Chuseok, MBC’s feature program, ʻTalented Peopleʼ, was televised. In that program, the hosts treated odeokhus as talented people. Each of their abilities was surely enough to be judged as a specialist or more in each field. Among the talented people in the program, the chosen best was a lover of historical dramas. By comparing between the historical facts and the dramas, she was the one who naturally latched on to Korean history. Her talent was recognized as the most useful hobby among other people’s talents.



  Being a specialist about your hobby can be a peculiar specification. Recently, some major companies asked about deokhu experience on an employment exam. Last year, CJ group asked their job applicants to write down a maximum of 3 fields that they’ve been passionately immersed in. The time has come where doing something tenaciously means he or she is enthusiastic. Because of the addiction, some people brought out a rebirth of existing cultures. Steve Jobs, also known as a design deokhu, led the smartphone revolution by being obsessive about its design and became a role model of many people who are eager for success. The film director Peter Jackson was a Tolkienist, which refers to an avid fan of J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of ʻThe Lord of the Ringsʼ. He persuaded Tolkien’s bereaved family, who was against the cinematization of the novel, to make Lord of the Rings the movie, which became a global hit. In addition, obsessing over one thing can be a key to success. Frank Wang, founder of the global drone giant DJI, was an RC model airplane enthusiast. The world famous soccer striker from Spain, Fernando Torres, took up soccer because he was obsessed with a popular Japanese cartoon, 'Captain Tsubasa'.



  Even in hard economic times, the deokhu market is still growing. Among deokhus, there are people who show distinctive consumption tendencies, like buying action figures, RC cars or Legos, because of their nostalgia for their childhood. Since they were treated as losers a few years ago, they couldn’t show their preferences, but the change of recognition of deokhus made those people saviors for the distribution industries in recession. The distribution industries are estimating the scale of the domestic deokhu market at about 500 billion ~ 700 billion won per year. This year, deokhu products sales increased by 156% compared with last year, and 85% of the consumers were in their 30s and 40s. The power of deokhu culture is apparent by just looking at ‘The McDonald’s Happy Meal Incident’. Last July, McDonald’s had an event that presents ‘Minions’ figurines when buying a happy meal for kids. However, deokhus all over the country stood in line for 2 to 3 hours before the event started, and they caused the sellout of the figurines in every McDonald’s in the whole country. Because of this kind of power of deokhus, many industries are paying attention to the deokhu market. Deokhu culture also became a notable business field. It is also changing the existing consumption trends and is making a new consumption trend.

  Like this, addiction can be harmful, but if you become addicted to a special thing, it can become your talent, create a new culture or develop a new market economy. Choosing a kind of addiction is entirely up to you. I hope you break the addictions that physically or mentally harm you, and if you are addicted to something, I also hope you use it wisely so it can become your special talent.

By Min Tae-kwan
tk36@cbnu.ac.kr