A member of the Seoul Metropolitan Council has submitted a bill calling for programs supporting a growing number of loners who confine themselves at home or other places for extended periods of time in refusal of social interactions.

The bill, recently proposed by Kim Mi-kyung, calls for Seoul's mayor to draw up a basic plan for supporting such "hermit-style loners" every five years and establishing a municipal committee running support programs.

The issue "can often be deemed as a psychological problem, but we have to take this as a social problem and come up with countermeasures," the city councilor said, adding that grown-up loners often use verbal and physical violence against their family members.

The legislation also calls for establishing support centers that provide occupational counseling and other programs. Kim said these programs are expected to cost about 1.55 billion won ($1.42 million) for the next five years.