An average 24.3 people per 100,000 die every year from suicide in Korea, followed by an average of 21 in Hungary, 19.4 in Japan and 16.7 in Finland. France and the United States saw an average of 14.2 and 10.1 people die respectively from suicide annually.
. . .
Suicide was the leading cause of death for people in their 20s and 30s, accounting for 40.7 percent and 28.7 percent of deaths in the respective age brackets.
South Korea was in a similar position in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009.
I won't editorialize too much, because Google will turn up plenty for you---some of it worth reading, much of it not---but I did want to share something written on Good For Man's Health in response to a Korea Times article last week titled "Jockey's Suicide Opens Ugly Side of Horseracing" about the recent suicide of a 28-year-old jockey.
When I was in college, I dated this girl who was really hot, but for a variety of reasons made me miserable. You know what I did? I killed myself. Oh no ... wait ... I ended the relationship.
The headline of this story, as well as some of the writing in it, claims that people should be questioning the "ugly side of horse racing." Or, maybe, people should be questioning the ugly side of Koreans killing themselves when they face pressure.
People will question it, I'm sure, in columns and editorials in the days following the release of these statistics. I suppose in South Korea there is considered to be some honor in suicide, whereas in the United States it's more fashionable and acceptable to descend into self-destructive behavior such as addiction.
25 comments:
That's a good point. I've never really thought about the different ways that various societies deal with pressure before I came to Korea.
I'm still curious about why the suicides get so much media coverage here as opposed to back home in the US. Any thoughts?
According to the CDC to avoid media contagion, whereby people reading about suicide are more likely to kill themselves, news reports should omit personal and sympathy inducing elements; the news reports should not mention the method of suicide or how wonderful the deceased was, they also should refrain from suggesting that the suicide helped solve a problem.
Very interesting.
I find that the last line makes it seem like addictive self destructing behavior doesn't exist in Korea.
I've been to bars.
Igor P, my point is it might be shocking or strange, at least in the US, for a person to deal with their problems by jumping off an apartment or hanging themselves, but it's certainly far more common---and accepted---for people to indulge in drugs and alcohol and turn to various addictions.
As far as celebrities go, just look at E! or VH1's "Behind the Music" and look at how addiction and self-destruction is basically celebrated. Americans like stories of redemption, so that behavior fits. You don't hear many stories of redemption from suicide, for obvious reasons.
Renee, I don't think it's a good idea to dehumanize the victim as a way to discourage others from doing it. Every day even in Pittsburgh I read about shootings and stabbings and robberies and all sorts of other horrible things . . . the media covers all of these in detail, no doubt providing inspiration to others (well, probably not, because these criminals and thugs are too stupid to understand even the local news). But, my point is that suicide victims shouldn't be demonized even further.
Igor P, my point is it might be shocking or strange, at least in the US, for a person to deal with their problems by jumping off an apartment or hanging themselves, but it's certainly far more common---and accepted---for people to indulge in drugs and alcohol and turn to various addictions.
You raise a very good point, Brian. Different cultures vary somewhat in how people fail out of life. It's arguably easier in our society to turn to drink/drugs and know the state will ultimately be responsible for you. Whereas in Korea, suicide is the more culturally appropriate route.
Even Koreans don't like Koreans. They claim to have this wonderful country and such great nationalism, but in reality, they make an already gloomy place and make each other crazy by the way they act. Once again, everyone can see their bad behaviors but themselves. Suicide is just another societal ill that is dismissed with a dismissive wave of the hand and an unreasonable excuse: There is too much stress, Korea is a smaall country, he had a hard life, there is no soap because you dont need it, alcoholism and homosexuals were brougt in from Japan, etc....Excuses for everything they do wrong. It's not their fault...any of it.
Furthermore, suicide is just another way that Koreans invaribly avoid accountability for their actions. No one ever ever ever will stand up and admit they were wrong.
@ Brian, I like the tone you take with this article, very fair handed, I was already to jump in with a snide comment about Korean finally being number 1 at something but I like how you gave some humanity to the situation.
On that point though I somewhat agree with Renee about how suicides should be handled by people. I remember the deaths of a few students in my high school. A few were car accidents and one was a suicide. With the kids who died in car accidents, there was an outpouring of support and people were allowed to mourn. The kid who committed suicide just got a small announcement at the beginning of first period.
If you contrast that with Korea's "suicide culture," where celebrities and ex-presidents who committed suicide got red carpet press coverage of their funerals, it is kind of understandable how suicide can be so popular here. For me watching the spectacle, my upbringing has taught me that that is all bad taste, but maybe for Koreans it is a way to honor those people.
As mental illness is a severe problem rarely reported here, I wonder how many of these suicides might actually be homicides by parents or grandparents who can't deal with the fact that their little prince or princess isn't perfect, so they still follow the teachings of the little dud leader to the north.
If i will inject the idea of moral and ethical relativism in this case, then i'll say i dont see any problem with this as far as the culture of this country and their people is concerned.
Korea is not the number one, actually ninth. Suicides per 100,000 people per year[2] Country ↓ Males ↓ Females ↓ Total pop. ↓ Year ↓
Belarus 63.3 10.3 35.1 2003
Lithuania[3] 55.9 9.1 30.7 2008
Russia 53.9 9.5 30.1 2006
Kazakhstan 46.2 9.0 26.9 2007
Latvia 34.1 7.7 19.9 2007
Japan See: Suicide in Japan 35.8 13.7 24.4 2007
Guyana 33.8 11.6 22.9 2005
Ukraine 40.9 7.0 22.6 2005
South Korea See: Suicide in South Korea 29.6 14.1 21.9 2006
Sri Lanka[4] N/A N/A 21.6 1996
Hungary[5] 37.1 8.6 21.5 2008
Belgium 27.2 9.5 18.2 1999
Finland 28.9 9.0 18.8 2007
Croatia 26.9 9.7 18.0 2006
Serbia and Montenegro 28.4 11.1 19.5 2006
Slovenia[6] 32.1 7.9 19.8 2008
Hong Kong 19.3 11.5 15.2 2006
Moldova 28.0 4.3 15.7 2007
France 25.5 9.0 17.0 2006
Switzerland 23.5 11.7 17.5 2006
Estonia[7] 29.1 6.2 16.5 2008
Poland 26.8 4.4 15.2 2006
Austria 24.7 7.0 15.6 2006
Uruguay 24.5 6.4 15.1 2001
People's Republic of China 13.0 14.8 13.9 1999
Seychelles[8] N/A N/A 13.2 1998
New Zealand[9] 20.3 6.5 13.2 2008
Sweden 19.5 7.1 13.3 2002
Trinidad and Tobago 20.9 4.9 12.8 2000
Slovakia 22.3 3.4 12.6 2005
Romania 21.5 4.0 12.5 2004
Cuba 18.6 6.2 12.4 2004
Suriname 17.8 6.4 12.1 2000
Czech Republic[10] 20.2 4.2 11.8 2008
Bosnia and Herzegovina 20.3 3.3 11.8 1991
Norway 15.7 7.4 11.6 2005
Canada 17.9 5.4 11.6 2005
Iceland 16.2 6.1 11.2 2005
Portugal 17.5 4.9 11.2 2003
United States 17.7 4.5 11.1 2005
Luxembourg 17.7 4.3 11.0 2005
Australia 17.1 4.7 10.9 2003
Denmark[11] 16.0 5.7 10.6 2006
India 12.2 9.1 10.6 1998
Chile 17.8 3.1 10.4 2003
Singapore 12.9 7.7 10.3 2006
South Africa[12] 25.3 5.6 15.4 2005
Bulgaria[13] 15.3 4.7 9.5 2007
Netherlands 12.7 6.0 9.4 2004
Germany[14] 14.9 4.4 9.4 2007
Ireland[15] 14.5 4.2 9.3 2008
Kyrgyzstan 15.3 3.2 9.2 2005
Argentina 14.1 3.5 8.7 2003
Turkmenistan 13.8 3.5 8.6 1998
Mauritius 13.2 3.8 8.5 2005
Zimbabwe 10.6 5.2 7.9 1990
Thailand 12.0 3.8 7.8 2002
Saint Lucia 10.4 5.0 7.7 2002
Belize 13.4 1.6 7.6 2001
Ecuador 10.4 4.0 7.2 2005
Nicaragua 11.1 3.3 7.2 2005
Italy[16] 8.4 2.3 5.2 2007
El Salvador 10.3 3.5 6.9 2005
Republic of Macedonia 9.5 4.0 6.8 2003
United Kingdom[17] 10.4 3.2 6.8 2005
Costa Rica 10.6 1.9 6.3 2005
Panama 11.1 1.4 6.3 2003
Israel 10.4 2.1 6.2 2003
Puerto Rico 10.9 1.8 6.2 2002
Spain[18] 9.6 3.0 6.1 2007
Malta 7.0 4.9 6.0 2004
Colombia 8.9 2.6 5.7 1999
Uzbekistan 8.1 3.0 5.5 2003
Venezuela 8.4 1.8 5.1 2002
Cyprus[19] 7.0 1.7 4.3 2008
Brazil 6.8 1.9 4.3 2002
Mexico 7.0 1.4 4.1 2005
Albania [20] 4.7 3.3 4.0 2003
The Bahamas 6.0 1.3 3.6 2000
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 6.8 0.0 3.4 2003
Bahrain 4.9 0.5 3.1 1988
Paraguay 4.5 1.6 3.1 2003
Greece[21] 4.8 1.0 2.8 2008
Tajikistan 2.9 2.3 2.6 2001
Georgia 3.4 1.1 2.2 2001
Guatemala 3.4 0.9 2.1 2003
Philippines 2.5 1.7 2.1 1993
Kuwait 2.5 1.4 2.0 2002
Armenia 3.2 0.5 1.8 2003
Dominican Republic 2.9 0.6 1.8 2001
Turkey 5.36 2.50 3.94 2008 [22]
Azerbaijan 1.8 0.5 1.1 2002
Peru 1.1 0.6 0.9 2000
São Tomé and Príncipe 0.0 1.8 0.9 1987
Barbados 1.4 0.0 0.7 2001
Iran 0.3 0.1 0.2 1991
Jamaica 0.3 0.0 0.1 1990
Syria 0.2 0.0 0.1 1985
Egypt 0.1 0.0 0.0 1987
Honduras 0.0 0.0 0.0 1978
Jordan 0.0 0.0 0.0 1979
Saint Kitts and Nevis 0.0 0.0 0.0 1995
Antigua and Barbuda 0.0 0.0 0.0 1995
Haiti 0.0 0.0 0.0 2003
ref,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate
Suicide is not the more culturally appropriate route, and suicide is not a way to honor those people in Korea.
Although nobody think suicide is a right way to deal difficulties of human lives, giving them respect at funerals(and their lives) is the way of Korea. it shows how much Koreans respect human lives since life is the most important thing in our human life...i believe.
@ joy
Learn how to read carefully. It says very clearly "highest ....in OECD" The list you mentioned is a global list.
"Suicide is not the more culturally appropriate route, and suicide is not a way to honor those people in Korea. "
-- Huh? Says who? if you will insists your morals to ANY COUNTRY or to anyone, thats ARROGANCE.
Suicide is not the more culturally appropriate route
Really, Joy? So you're saying all those failed business owners and disgraced politicians who jump off the a Han river bridge aren't following what they believe is the culturally appropriate course of action?
Note, when I say appropriate I don't mean the course of action is the correct thing to do, anymore so than taking drugs is the correct thing to do in the west. What I mean is western culture tends to teach us problems can be escaped by descending into drugs whereas a person taking his/her own life is a well played motif in Korean culture.
That's my hypothesis, anyway. If you have empirical evidence to dispute it, I'd enjoy considering it.
arvinsign,
you really think i posted without reading carefully?
i put my comments carefully after reading posts and comments very CAREFULLY.
you need to read carefully,
i am not going to point out which part you didn't read carefully. you find out for yourself very carefully and thoughtfully.
Puffin,
Again, i know your point very clearly.
Again, please consider my point.
could you give me the numbers who took their lives in Korea?
i am for sure the numbers or statistics are not enough to consider suicide as the more culturally appropriate route in Korea.
i am for sure the numbers or statistics are not enough to consider suicide as the more culturally appropriate route in Korea.
Surely you'll agree Korea has a markedly higher suicide rate and a considerably lower rate of hard drug addiction? If not the top for suicide in the OECD then easily #2.
There are one or more factors to explain why Korea has significantly more suicides. As Renee notes above "According to the CDC to avoid media contagion, whereby people reading about suicide are more likely to kill themselves..."
So, I would suggest:
- North American movies tend to depict drugs as a method for bombing out of life.
- Korean movies rarely show drug abuse and Korean literature tends to depict a lot more suicide. For example, Boys Over Flowers, a teen comedy drama, shows a boy attempting to kill himself (for almost comedic effect no less) until he's saved by the story's heroine and this vaults her to national attention.
To demonstrate the truth of my hypothesis, we could randomly sample Korean movies vs American movies and count suicides. But I really don't care to embark on an MA level thesis to prove a blog comment. I was merely supporting Brian's contention that there is not necessarily one cynical way to look at suicide in Korea. For example, one should not rush to judge the issue as:
1. Suicide is the coward's way out.
2. Koreans commit the most suicides.
3. Therefore Koreans are the most cowardly people.
If you have a better hypothesis, joy, well, table it. I'll consider its merits. To simply return, wave your hands, and ask us to accept your authority is kinda silly.c
puffin,
how could you support your hypothesis, especially #2? Your hypothesis is definitely make me rethink of you.
@joy
"you really think i posted without reading carefully?"
- Yes i do. As a matter of fact, look at the way you responded and interpreted Puffin's reply to you. And you love redundancy of words.
Again, what im saying is that its true that Korea's suicide rate is highest among OECD countries. There is a connection between rates of suicides vis a vis socio-economic condition of a country. Add the culture, prevalence of a certain religion, and so many other factors.
Yes in a global list, they are ranked 9th, but who cares about the difference of ranking first out of 30 (among OECD), and 9th out of 200++ (global)??
puffin,
how could you support your hypothesis, especially #2? Your hypothesis is definitely make me rethink of you.
Ummmm. I kind of laid out the how right below. Read down. K?
Again, let me repeat. The point is to suggest the reason Koreans kill themselves more or most than the OECD average can have many reasons and one should not assume a cynical explanation is the only one and therefore the correct one.
I have no interest in researching any possible hypothesis beyond demonstrating there are more than one possible explanations why Koreans escape problems more with suicide and North Americans turn to drugs.
No one wants cynicism, but it'd be nice to see some realism. In a realistic world, you have to look at the culture of suppression. Researchers from California just pinpointed a possible genetic shift between South Koreans and Westerners that could help explain all of this:
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/08/culture-and-genetics/
To say Korea faces no substance-abuse problems is short-sighted, also. Smoking amongst Korean males is nearly the highest percentage in the World. Not to mention the "drinking culture," for which the court in Seoul of May 2007 actually had to rule that it was illegal "to force your subordinates to drink."
@ Joy :
They speak of OECD countries (90% of developed countires) and not all country in the world (of course all ex Soviet Union countries still has high suicide rate)
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/52/42/48304068.xls
There is a suicide tab showing the 2009 korean rate "28.4". Even all 2009 numbers arent completed we can easily compare to previous year and say it is number 1.
Even stats only started in the mid 80s, we can see korean rate is only growing since the mid 90s (since the economic sucess especially...)
In all other county (even Japan) in the past 10 years (even 30 years) we can see that their stat is stable or lowering.
Something serious is hapening in Korea
I don't think that the high suicide rate in South Korea is entirely caused by the "glorification" of it in their culture, or wouldn't North Korea also have a high suicide rate? or at least one closer to South Korea's? South Korea's suicide rate is over 5 times higher than North Korea's..
Trey high suicide rates correlate with economic prosperity. You don't find a lot of suicide in subsistence societies. People tend not to kill themselves when they're trying to just survive. North Korea is a nation where daily survival for most is a challenge.
Do you know NK's see wide spread tv shows and media reports about suicide? Does the government let this on TV? As well, would the NK government fairly report their suicide rates? A nation that struggles to convince its people they're living in paradise would probably not want to make suicide rates known.
To sum up, your basis for comparing NK to SK is problematic on two counts. At least.
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