By Park Moo-jong
South Korea has been an object of global admiration and envy thanks to the amazing economic and cultural development it accomplished from the ashes of the devastating 1950-53 Korean War.
After joining the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the rich country club, in 1996, it officially became a "developed" country last month by giving up its status as a developing nation in the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Behind such a brilliant economic success, however, South Korea still faces many social and political problems, not to speak of the worsening economic situation and chronic confrontation between conservatives and progressives.
Against this backdrop, South Korea has earned a dishonorable title as a country with the highest suicide rate among the 34 OECD members. Furthermore, it is ranked fourth in the world (26.9 suicides per 100,000) following Lithuania (31.9), Russia (31), and the South American country of Guyana (29.2), according to a World Health Organization report.
Last year alone, 13,670 Koreans took their own life, accounting for 37.5 per day or one per 38 minutes, up about 10 percent from 2017. Authorities analyze that there are indications of the "Werther effect" occurring these days, which refers to copycat suicides after a highly publicized media coverage of suicides or following the suicide of a friend or family member. (Werther is the hero of Goethe's 1774 novel "The Sorrow of Young Werther" who shot himself).
Actually, prominent figures and celebrities have killed themselves one after another since the end of 2017, including ex-professor and writer Ma Kwang-soo, leading progressive politician Roh Hoe-chan, former lawmaker Chung Doo-un, TV actors Jo Min-ki and Jeon Mi-seon and K-pop stars Sulli and Goo Hara, to name a few.
Sunday's suicide of Goo Hara, 28, a top K-pop star, who followed last month's suicide of her good friend, Sulli, a girl band member, 25, was enough to ring the alarm anew in this society about the seriousness of the rising suicide rate and copycat suicides not only in the entertainment field, but also in other walks of life.
In particular, the death of Goo, who had been hit by malicious comments on social media ― just as Sulli had been ― should serve as a bitter case to counter vicious online slander against celebrities made anonymously.
Last month's joint suicides of an aged mother and her three mid-aged daughters in Seongbuk-dong, Seoul, prove the authorities' inability to take care of people suffering from dire financial difficulties that drove the family into a dead end.
A few days later, a 49-year-old divorcee, her two children aged 20 and 24, respectively, and their 19-year-old friend took their own life in their Incheon apartment, writing of their economic difficulties in a suicide note. It is no wonder that many people question what the authorities are doing with the precious money we pay in taxes.
Of course, the government is making efforts to curb the suicide epidemic. It is striving to make available easy access to mental healthcare for those who may have a diagnosable and treatable mental health conditions featuring depression, among others. It is also providing diverse education programs to community leaders to help prevent suicides at a local level.
However, the latest series of suicides testify to the ineffectiveness of the programs and the lack of government's efforts: the lack of mental health support in a country with the highest suicide rate among rich nations. In order to wipe out the dishonor, the social recognition of suicide must change first of all.
Frankly speaking, our media coverage of suicides have been, so far, irresponsible, even beautifying the extreme acts of suicide or making some victims heroes, recalling the words of Chuck Palahniuk, an American novelist and freelance journalist: "The only difference between suicide and martyrdom is press coverage."
Nearly 800,000 people take their own life and there are many more who attempt suicide every year across the world. It is a common sense that every suicide is a tragedy that affects families, communities and entire countries and has long-lasting effects on the people left behind.
We still have a sad memory of our former President Roh Moo-hyun (1946-2009) who leaped from a hill to death in his hometown. We have not yet taken a lesson from history.
Suicide is wrong. Suicide is the very result of cowardice. Suicide is the sin, not a sin. We should not refuse to take the oath of loyalty to life. Nothing is more precious than being loyal to their own life.
Society has the very responsibility to teach the growing generation what a bad choice it is to give up one's life for oneself and how badly it affects society.
Park Moo-jong (emjei29@gmail.com) is a standing adviser of The Korea Times. He served as the president-publisher of the nation's first English daily newspaper from 2004 to 2014 after working as a reporter since 1974.
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After joining the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the rich country club, in 1996, it officially became a "developed" country last month by giving up its status as a developing nation in the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Behind such a brilliant economic success, however, South Korea still faces many social and political problems, not to speak of the worsening economic situation and chronic confrontation between conservatives and progressives.
Against this backdrop, South Korea has earned a dishonorable title as a country with the highest suicide rate among the 34 OECD members. Furthermore, it is ranked fourth in the world (26.9 suicides per 100,000) following Lithuania (31.9), Russia (31), and the South American country of Guyana (29.2), according to a World Health Organization report.
Last year alone, 13,670 Koreans took their own life, accounting for 37.5 per day or one per 38 minutes, up about 10 percent from 2017. Authorities analyze that there are indications of the "Werther effect" occurring these days, which refers to copycat suicides after a highly publicized media coverage of suicides or following the suicide of a friend or family member. (Werther is the hero of Goethe's 1774 novel "The Sorrow of Young Werther" who shot himself).
Actually, prominent figures and celebrities have killed themselves one after another since the end of 2017, including ex-professor and writer Ma Kwang-soo, leading progressive politician Roh Hoe-chan, former lawmaker Chung Doo-un, TV actors Jo Min-ki and Jeon Mi-seon and K-pop stars Sulli and Goo Hara, to name a few.
Sunday's suicide of Goo Hara, 28, a top K-pop star, who followed last month's suicide of her good friend, Sulli, a girl band member, 25, was enough to ring the alarm anew in this society about the seriousness of the rising suicide rate and copycat suicides not only in the entertainment field, but also in other walks of life.
In particular, the death of Goo, who had been hit by malicious comments on social media ― just as Sulli had been ― should serve as a bitter case to counter vicious online slander against celebrities made anonymously.
Last month's joint suicides of an aged mother and her three mid-aged daughters in Seongbuk-dong, Seoul, prove the authorities' inability to take care of people suffering from dire financial difficulties that drove the family into a dead end.
A few days later, a 49-year-old divorcee, her two children aged 20 and 24, respectively, and their 19-year-old friend took their own life in their Incheon apartment, writing of their economic difficulties in a suicide note. It is no wonder that many people question what the authorities are doing with the precious money we pay in taxes.
Of course, the government is making efforts to curb the suicide epidemic. It is striving to make available easy access to mental healthcare for those who may have a diagnosable and treatable mental health conditions featuring depression, among others. It is also providing diverse education programs to community leaders to help prevent suicides at a local level.
However, the latest series of suicides testify to the ineffectiveness of the programs and the lack of government's efforts: the lack of mental health support in a country with the highest suicide rate among rich nations. In order to wipe out the dishonor, the social recognition of suicide must change first of all.
Frankly speaking, our media coverage of suicides have been, so far, irresponsible, even beautifying the extreme acts of suicide or making some victims heroes, recalling the words of Chuck Palahniuk, an American novelist and freelance journalist: "The only difference between suicide and martyrdom is press coverage."
Nearly 800,000 people take their own life and there are many more who attempt suicide every year across the world. It is a common sense that every suicide is a tragedy that affects families, communities and entire countries and has long-lasting effects on the people left behind.
We still have a sad memory of our former President Roh Moo-hyun (1946-2009) who leaped from a hill to death in his hometown. We have not yet taken a lesson from history.
Suicide is wrong. Suicide is the very result of cowardice. Suicide is the sin, not a sin. We should not refuse to take the oath of loyalty to life. Nothing is more precious than being loyal to their own life.
Society has the very responsibility to teach the growing generation what a bad choice it is to give up one's life for oneself and how badly it affects society.
Park Moo-jong (emjei29@gmail.com) is a standing adviser of The Korea Times. He served as the president-publisher of the nation's first English daily newspaper from 2004 to 2014 after working as a reporter since 1974.
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