Nearly two-thirds of South Koreans are smartphone owners, each of them spending 50 per cent or more time on their devices than they did just two years ago.

With one of the highest global internet speeds and smartphone penetration rates in the world, some psychiatrists worry about the impact on the brain functions of the wired generation.

Scientists say prolonged exposure to the internet and such phones could lead to anxiety, brain fatigue and increasingly short-term memory.

Al Jazeera's Harry Fawcett met with some people in Seoul who are turning to the familiarity of the analogue world for comfort in an increasingly wired society.