Tuesday February 20, 6:18 PM     Reuters
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South Korea seeks to curb rising suicide rate*

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea may make farm chemicals less toxic and
install more fences on the tops of tall buildings in order to cut down
on one of the developed world's highest suicide rates, a health official
said on Tuesday.

Having seen its suicide rate double in less than a decade, the country
will also set up more counselling centres and try to increase awareness
of the risks of depression, which are not widely understood in the
country, the official said.

"Also as a part of the campaign, we want to remove harmful Internet
sites (that may encourage suicide) as well increase the number of our
cyber counselling sites for young people, who favour this type of
service," said ministry official Kim Gwon-chul.

In 2004, 24.2 South Korean per 100,000 citizens killed themselves,
making suicide the fourth leading cause of death in the country, ahead
of traffic accidents. There were 12,047 deaths by suicide in 1005.

South Korea's suicide rate is higher than Japan's and about double that
in Canada, Norway or the United States, the government said.

One reason behind the increase in suicides may be a widening gap between
the haves and the have-nots in South Korea, with poorer citizens more
likely to kill themselves than the affluent, according to government data.