Objective:
This study was conducted to find out the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in South Korea.

Method:
We surveyed 2,000 people across the country in South Korea. To assess the severity of mental health, this study used the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-items (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scale and so on.

Result:
55.8% of the people were experiencing feeling depressed, and 30.6% of the people suffering from sleep disorders due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As measured by the PHQ-9 scale, a clinical depressive symptom screening tool for mental health, the risk group for depression that required psychiatric treatment was 17.6%, and the generalized anxiety disorder (GAD-7) reached 31.9%. In particular, there were differences in depressive symptoms and generalized anxiety disorder depending on the individuals income level. In the case of the prevalence of severe depressive symptoms, the lowest and highest income groups were 5.2% and 1.9%, respectively, and the difference reached about three times. In addition, the prevalence of severe anxiety disorder were 8.6% and 4.4% in the lowest and highest income groups, respectively, and the difference reached about twice.

Conclusion:
This study confirmed the negative impact of COVID-19 on mental health. In particular, it was revealed that the negative impact of COVID-19 on mental health differs depending on the individuals socioeconomic level.