Wee Kek Koon

Reflections | Suicide in Korea is a big problem but in ancient China, views were once very different

Events during one period in Chinese history indicate that for many, dying for honour was far more desirable than living a disgraced life

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Kim Yong-hyun attends a press conference in Washington on October 31, 2024. The now former South Korean defence minister attempted suicide while in custody over his role in a failed attempt to impose martial law in South Korea. Photo: EPA-EFE

Wee Kek Koon

Published: 8:15am, 21 Dec 2024Updated: 8:26am, 21 Dec 2024

Among member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), South Korea has the highest suicide rate.

Various reasons are cited to explain this sad statistic, one of which is the Werther effect, where there is a spike in copycat attempts after a widely publicised suicide.

There are many such cases in South Korea.

Earlier this month, former defence minister Kim Yong-hyun tried to kill himself while in detention over his role in the failed attempt to impose martial law in South Korea on December 3.

In 2009, the country’s former president Roh Moo-hyun died after leaping into a ravine.

South Korean then-president Roh Moo-hyun looks through a window at the presidential Blue House in Seoul in April 2004, after the parliament led by the main opposition Grand National Party impeached him on March 12, 2004. Photo: Reuters

Celebrity suicides – of which there have been a disturbing amount in South Korea since the 2000s – have affected a far larger number of people. Just in November, actor Song Jae-rim was found dead at home with a suicide note.