Stress brought on by economic growth blamed for South Korea's suicide surge
Pastor Dale Morgan
Stress brought on by economic growth blamed for South Korea's suicide surge*
Posted 2/10/2007 4:00 PM ET
By Burt Herman, Associated Press
SEOUL — Dr. Lee Hong-shick saw signs of trouble while visiting a
hospital emergency room as a psychiatrist: More and more people with
wrists slashed or stomachs full of drugs in suicide attempts, but
treated and sent home without further attention.
So Lee founded the Korean Association for Suicide Prevention several
years ago and has become one of the growing number of voices calling
attention to a surge in suicides that has vaulted South Korea among the
world's top nations for such deaths.
"Someone who slits their wrists, they just get stitched up. (But) the
main problem is why they decide to attempt suicide," Lee said at his
hospital office at Seoul's Yonsei University. "This should not be seen
as an individual's problem, but society should help these people."
The rate of suicides in South Korea soared to 24.7 per 100,000 people in
2005, according to the latest statistics from the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development that rank the country at the top of
the list.
Others with high rates were Hungary at 22.6 and Japan at 20.3, both
using numbers from 2003, the latest available. By comparison, the U.S.
suicide rate was 10.2 per 100,000 in 2002, the OECD said.
The National Police Agency recorded 14,011 suicides by South Koreans in
2005. Suicide is the leading cause of death for South Koreans in their
20s and 30s, and the No. 4 cause overall, the chief statistics agency
said in a September report.
The suicide trend has been fueled by South Korea's status as one of the
world's most wired countries with a highly developed Internet
infrastructure, meaning finding methods to kill oneself or partners for
group suicides are just a few mouse clicks away.
Although there are different motivations for suicide, the common
denominator is "stress and pressure," Lee said, pointing to an
unfortunate side-effect of the country's rapid economic development.
"Rapid change is the biggest problem in all areas — the economy and
family system," he said. "At the same time the support system is getting
weaker."
South Korea is regularly hailed as a success story that has built a
robust high-tech economy from the ashes of the Korean War.
But growth has also brought increased pressures. Families spend heavily
to get children ahead with endless private after-school lessons,
competition for jobs is fierce and housing prices have soared, weighing
on youths and young adults.
Suicides also are rising among people in their 60s who don't want to
burden to their families.
Dr. Ahn Myoung-ock, a parliament member, has sponsored a series of bills
calling for a coordinated government approach to suicide. The proposals
range from beefing up prevention and counseling to allowing confidential
use of satellite positioning data from cellphones to locate people
trying to kill themselves.
"I hope since we have had that kind of compressed rapidity of economic
development ... that we have the ability to solve this rapidly as well,"
she said.
Even the rich and famous are part of the trend.
The latest high-profile casualty came in January, when pop singer Yuni
was found hanged in her apartment in the city of Incheon. Relatives said
she was gripped by depression from the pressure associated with the
release of her third album.
In late 2005, Lee Yoon-hyung, the daughter of the chairman of South
Korea's biggest company, Samsung Group, killed herself at age 26 in New
York, reportedly suffering from depression.
Actress Lee Eun-joo was found last February hanging from a necktie in
her apartment. She also was believed to have been depressed.
Korean media are increasingly reporting on people who want to kill
themselves finding others with similar desires by the Internet and
arranging group suicides — meeting in motels or parks and drinking
poison together.
Lee said he recently won agreements from Internet search engines to link
the keyword "suicide" with centers providing counseling, instead of
sending the people to sites that would help them devise ways to kill
themselves.
Still, it is easy to find people with suicidal thoughts on forum
sections of leading South Korean websites, such as a recent posting
purportedly from a sixth grader complaining about family troubles and a
lack of friends.
"Most of all, I don't know why I should exist. I don't think I'm worth
anything," the unnamed writer said. "Nobody will care if I die ... even
my parents. I should just die. Can someone please tell me a perfect way
to commit suicide?"