By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter

Deaths by suicide ― committed not only by entertainers but by members of the general public ― are having downside repercussions for insurance companies having to payout compensation.

The country's three largest life insurers ― Samsung, Kyobo and Korea Life ― said Sunday that they paid 192.4 billion won in death benefits for suicides in fiscal year 2008 up 9.8 percent from the previous year.

The number of such insurance claims also rose 4.9 percent to 1,685 cases in the one-year period from April 2008 to March 2009.

The number of claims accelerated from September and October last year when famous actor Ahn Jae-hwan and iconic actress Choi Jin-sil killed themselves.

According to Samsung Life Insurance, the monthly claims had fallen early last year but soared 17.1 percent and 24.8 percent in September and October, respectively.

Since then, the upward trend jumped 73.7 percent in November and 97.7 percent in October. Earlier this year, the growth figures remained upside of 50 percent.

Other life insurers including mid-string ones are seeing similar trends.

``I don't know whether or not celebrity suicides resulted in imitated attempts across society,'' said an official at a local insurer who declined to be named.

``However, the number of death benefit claims related to suicides began to rise last September. It may be a coincidence but they are highly likely to be interrelated,'' he said.

Celebrity Suicides & 2-Year Rule

Actor Ahn Jae-hwan was found dead early September in his sports utility vehicle parked in northern Seoul. According to the police, Ahn took his own life using toxic fumes.

Choi Jin-sil, one of the most outstanding actresses here, was also found dead in her home in Seoul a month later in what police later concluded was a suicide.

Then, celebrity suicides continued among entertainers as actor Kim Ji-who, actress Jang Ja-yeon and actress Woo Seung-yeon followed suit.

Recently, the bizarre frenzy seems to have affected ordinary people ― a flurry of people tried group suicides earlier this year after meeting through Web sites.

In this climate, some insurers claim that the conditions for death benefits should be strengthened to prevent suicides by adopting a three-year rule, instead of the current two-year regime.

Life insurers mostly adopt a two-year rule ― they don't pay death benefits if an insured person kills themselves within two years after signing up for a policy ― as a means to discourage suicides, but after this period they are required to payout for suicides just like any other death.

voc200@koreatimes.co.kr