The number of South Koreans going to theaters alone nearly doubled over the past seven years as a growing number of the younger generation enjoy doing activities such as viewing performances or shopping by themselves, a leading online ticket seller said Sunday.

   Nearly a quarter (23.9 percent) of those who booked tickets with Interpark Corp., a leading online ticket and book seller, last year purchased one ticket to view performances alone, Interpark said.

   The comparable figure for 2005 was 11.6 percent.

   The so-called "me alone culture, growing among youths, has apparently affected the mode in which theater tickets are sold," said Chu Mi-young, an expert on cultural research. "Those in their 20s and 30s, who are leading the performance culture, are by now quite accustomed to shopping and viewing films and performances alone. We now witness a growing number of people enjoying performances by themselves per se."

   Tickets sales to lone viewers accounted for 33 percent for classical music and operas last year, up 13 percent from 2005.

   The comparable figures for pop music concerts and musicals were 30 percent and 23 percent, up from 14 percent and 8 percent in 2005.

   By gender, lone female viewers constituted 29 percent of the total female audiences in 2012, up 15 percent from 2005, while lone male viewers made up 14 percent last year compared with 7 percent seven years ago. (Yonhap News)