“Studying is hard,” Students cried as they sympathized with his last words

A student walks toward the central library at Seoul National University in Gwanak-gu, Seoul on October 15. Around 5:40 p.m. October 13, A, a graduate student in the school, was found dead in the bathroom of the central library with a suicide note that said, “Studying is hard.” Seong Dong-hun

A graduate student in his twenties at Seoul National University (SNU) in Gwanak-gu, Seoul was found dead in the bathroom of the school library on October 13 leaving behind a suicide note claiming that “Studying is hard.” Fellow graduate students responded to the tragic news saying that they could relate to his decision because they understood what he went through.

A (29), another graduate student at SNU told the reporter over the phone on October 15 that he could somewhat understand the meaning in the short sentence, “Studying is hard.”

He explained, “Graduate students live with limited human relations and living boundaries,” and said, “Even if the professor doesn’t harass you or you’re not subject to unfair actions, it’s tough when you feel like you’re the only one falling behind and when you don’t get results.”

The mental health of graduate students, who are simultaneously students and research workers, is not a new problem. In 2011, four undergraduate students at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) chose to end their lives. Ever since, experts have constantly pointed out that graduate students and student researchers faced enormous mental pressure from an uncertain future, their unstable status, excessive competition, and hierarchy inside the lab.

Jeon, who graduated from an integrated masters and PhD program at SNU, said that he lost one older student and one peer while he was in the program. Jeon said, “News about the latest incident was released to the public because it occurred inside the school, but there are probably a lot of deaths that are never known.” He further said, “Even if there is no direct gapjil (abusive behavior toward a subordinate by someone in power), life as a graduate student makes you feel like you’re tied to a leash because of a structure that allows professors to stop you from graduating if they don’t like you and because of the stress from studying itself.”

Some people argue that the students could quit studying. B (28), another graduate student at SNU said, “Not only are they not capable of any empathy, but what they’re saying does not make sense.” She said, “Graduate students practically give up preparing for other kinds of employment and work at school. Just as one can’t quit because it’s tough working in a company, you can’t quit so easily.”

According to a survey of the basic rights of graduate students at SNU in 2022 conducted by the SNU Human Rights Center on 1,715 graduate students from November 22 until December 21 last year, one out of five respondents (22.6%, 387) answered, “I have thought about dying while in a graduate program at SNU.” And 12.1% (47) of these respondents also said they had actually planned or attempted suicide.

Psychiatric specialists claim that it is important to create a window where graduate students can share their psychological stress and do not feel isolated. Chung Chan-seung, chairman of the social responsibility committee at the Korean Neuropsychiatric Association (KNPA), said, “The students who got their bachelor’s from another school and have to newly adapt to graduate school and graduate students who conduct individual research similar to self-teaching feel more isolated and can’t express their troubles that well.” He advised, “We need to create an atmosphere where they can share their problems so that the danger signals don’t go ignored. There should be constant announcements on opportunities for them to receive counseling.”