Lawmaker questions high suicide rate at SH Corp apartments

SH Corporation headquarters in Gaepo-dong, Seoul / Korea Times File

A lawmaker this week called for an investigation into a property management company due to a high suicide rate at its apartments in Seoul.

Rep. Lee Noh-geun of the ruling Saenuri Party made public city records that show that 133 residents of apartments operated by SH Corp. have taken their own lives over the last three-and-a-half years.

Providing roofs to some 159,000 households as of August of this year, the apartments have been mostly occupied by mostly low-income people including elderly citizens.

Lee claimed there could be a link between the living environment of the apartments and the high suicide rate.