Shining a light on South Korean suicides

How can the country tackle its suicide epidemic?


South Korea has the highest suicide rate among OECD members with more than 40 Koreans committing suicide every day. It’s the leading cause of death among young people and a recent poll found more than half of teens have suicidal thoughts. While the government has taken steps to curb the epidemic, there seems to be no signs the rate is declining.


With the highest suicide rate of any developed nation, at least 40 South Koreans kill themselves every day. As suicide rates across much of the developing world have started to fall, in South Korea they continue to trend upward as shown in the graph below: