We must cut our disgraceful suicide rate

Unless Korea overcomes its shameful suicide rate, the country is doomed.

The number of people who killed themselves in Korea reached 6,375 as of May, a whopping 10.1 percent increase from the same period last year. The country already infamous for having the highest suicide rate among OECD members took a step closer to the dishonor. After the number of suicides grew to 13,770 in 2023 from 12,906 in the previous year, the government hurriedly launched a special committee to overcome the crisis and activated an integrated call service to prevent suicide. And yet, more people are expected to commit suicide this year than last year.

Experts attribute it to the repercussions of the suicide of the famous actor Lee Sun-kyun at the end of 2023 and more live broadcasts of suicides by young people. The so-called “Werther Effect” was already confirmed after the suicide of famous actress Choi Jin-sil in 2008. The danger of committing copycat suicides grew after a serious of widely publicized suicides. According to the Korea Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the number of reports on suicide-inducing information soared to 234,064 in 2022 from 9,772 in 2020. In particular, photos or videos of committing self-harm nearly tripled to 122,442 from 42,850 during the same period. Despite the urgent need to stop the trend, our current systems can’t match the escalation.

Extreme mental conflicts originating from intense competitions from elementary school days make the situation even worse. A total of 197 students ended their own life in 2021, a sharp increase from 140 two years before. The biggest reason was family conflict following academic performance at schools. An analysis of suicide methods clearly shows that most juveniles kill themselves impulsively. A flood of suicide-related information in a stressful society only fans the impulse to commit suicide.

The cases of advanced countries who successfully solved the suicide conundrum show “it takes a village” to stop and prevent suicide. A case in point is Finland whose suicide rate was very high at 30 per 100,000. The country halved the rate through a close cooperation among public health authorities, police, education and local communities. Japan also devised effective ways to lower suicide rates by sharing related information between the police and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Korea developed a system to share various data among stakeholders. But the level of their collaboration falls short of our expectations. The role of local governments is very important here, but many heads of them are indifferent to that. Even though the National Assembly prepares to evaluate municipal governments’ effort to prevent suicide, it would be meaningless without their participation. Unless Korea overcomes its shameful suicide rate, the country is doomed.