Suicide issues again take headlines in South Korea for the past few days following the death of actor Ahn Jae-hwan.
State-run Korea Youth Counseling Institute released a poll finding on Tuesday (Sept 9) indicating that six in every 10 South Korean teenagers have thought about taking their own lives at least once [via Yonhap]
According to the survey of 4,700 middle and high school students, 58.8% of the respondents had thought of suicide; and 11.1% of the respondents attempted suicide.
The National Statistical Office (NSO) earlier said that there were 12,174 suicides representing 5% of all deaths in 2007. It’s also said that an annual average 23.6 Koreans committed suicide out of 100,000 people in the last five years, which is one of the highest levels in the world.
I almost didn’t want to believe the news report at the beginning, because the figures are a bit overwhelming for me… that’s like more than 30 Koreans are dying each day from suicide; the Korean government needs to treat this issue with serious urgency.
Possibly Related Post
Another Hallyuwood suicideAnother Korean celebrity suicide
Korean actor Ahn Jae-hwan committed suicide
South Korean’s college admission test
Not good.
I think suicide is a stupid answer to a problem.
i am a bit surprise with the high rate, because i always think that koreans are religous people, and most religion forbid taking our own lifes.
something is wrong with the koreans here… people should stop using mental illness or depression as excuse. it is true in some cases that those suiciders have no control on their mind but lots of the suicides can be prevented and just a matter of choice. and its not just about finding medical cures or counceling, but need to find solutions for normal issues like working pressure and standard of living and to teach people that suiciding is very wrong and irresponsible to their friends and families.
Nicely said kyon… most of the suicides can be prevented if a better environment is created, and that includes some of those with depression and mental problems etc. Set aside some possibly genetically issues, there must be something that have triggered those depressions and disturbance, and it’s highly connected with the environment and culture around us.
There’s another report that said that the suicide rate in Korea was around 7 in 100,000 people in 1982. The Koreans need to find out the reasons of the rapid increase in less than three decades, and to find solutions to tackle the problem.
silly people
This is pretty true. I’m not surprised with the rate. When I used to live in Korea (before I moved to Canada), I saw that the subway platforms that were closest to universities all had a glass fence with automated doors to prevent people from committing suicide. I’m not just saying only university stations have glass doors. Busy stations like Dongdaemoon-yeok have glass doors too, and not because of suicide problems, but because it’s busy there.
A lot of people commit suicide in Korea because of the high pressure. Korean society places a lot of pressure on the citizens to get into good high schools, universities and good jobs (and to keep them too). Land is so small in Korea, so it’s difficult to find a good job, and even more difficult to keep it. It’s not uncommon to work past 6pm there. I used to study so hard that I would have constant nosebleeds and I would faint a lot because I slept 2~3 hours a night at most. And this is just when I was trying to pass examination to get into a high school.
I think Korean government needs to look more closely at these issues. With the technological and economic boom in Korea over the past few decades, it’s necessary to address these issues.
[...] chain would create a domino effect in the Korean society, which is already fragile with one of the highest suicide rates among developed [...]
Most the people commit suicide because they cannot adapt the world changes,
having depression for the past happy life, and there’s little help for them to overcome
their problems or no one really help them at all.
That’s why people seek for religion to solve or get advise to overcome their problems,
theres have many roads in life, its takes very long time to find the one road!
[...] quarters have criticised that the high pressure of preparing for the CSAT attributes to the high suicide rates of Korean teenagers; while some others are criticising that the system are undermining the [...]
“i am a bit surprise with the high rate, because i always think that koreans are religous people, and most religion forbid taking our own lifes.”
No, they are “spiritual”… not religious!
ANd I am not surprised…..
i think the korean education system is to blaim……
korean students are rarely given the time to enjoy themselves or have fun. there is too much pressure to succeed…tsk tsk..
Korea is not the only place in the world where increasing and constant pressure of doing well academically is a norm for teenagers. Actually, places such as Japan and Taiwan have the exact same system.
I agree that it is the pressure to succeed. After a busy schoolyear, either in Korea or the US, they spend the summer in Academy from 7:00AM to 10:00PM. That is no life. Makes me depressed just thinking about it. My Korean homestay daughter spends more time with me than her own parents.
This just proves that life is so very fragile.We have to be extra cautious in what we say and do. These poor students are probably worked super hard and are pressured by their parents to do well. Keep in mind that each life is sacred and everyone has a purpose
I don’t know. Saying that people “think” of suicide is not really anything revealing. I would not be surprised if any teenager has not at least vaguely considered the possibility of suicide once in their life. That is not to say that they are seriously considering taking their won lives- as the statistics show, only 11% of those teens actually ATTEMPTED suicide. Not that I am trivializing the value of life, but I’m just saying that it’s pretty normal for everyone to think about suicide once in a while- not chronically, of course, but if the thought crosses your mind, it does not necessarily mean that you are suicidal.
[...] Linky via [yeinjee] [...]