Concerns rise as some Korean teens seem to take suicide lightly

Korea Herald

25-06-2025

Teen suicide rate rises to 7.9 deaths per 100,000 teens in 2023; experts call for stronger mental health support
Mental health professionals are calling for stronger support systems and suicide prevention education as concerns over teenagers taking suicide lightly circulate here after three high school students in Busan took their own lives.
On June 21, three high school students were found dead after falling from the rooftop of an apartment building. According to notes written by two of the three students recovered by investigators, the students cited academic stress and pressure as primary factors behind their deaths.
Gangnam-gu Office in Seoul had also reported taking suicide prevention actions of its own in recent weeks, following reports of a growing number of Korean teenagers flocking to high-rise buildings near Gangnam Station. Some were allegedly drawn to certain buildings out of cuirosity from rumors that labeled certain buildings 'suicide landmarks.'
'We're not sure where the rumor first circulated, but some students allegedly visit the buildings based on rumors claiming that dying in high-rise buildings around Gangnam Station guarantees passage to the afterlife in heaven,' a Gangnam-gu Office official told The Korea Herald.
'Many building managers reported to us that they see several teenagers visiting buildings rooftop spaces at least once every month,' the official added. 'Ever since a teenager livestreamed her suicide ... in Gangnam in 2023, the building managers told us that it seems like any high-rise building in the district is deemed a suicide hotspot.'
According to the district office official, the reason teenagers cite most for visiting such buildings is curiosity: 'to see what it would feel like before jumping off such a high building.'
Observing such trends, mental health professionals stated that suicide is increasingly being portrayed as something akin to 'easy exit out of a problem.'
'With suicide rates among teenagers increasing steadily in recent years, it seems like suicide is being increasingly portrayed not as an act of despair, but as a legitimate solution to problems,' professor Hong Hyun-joo from Hallym University's Department of Neurology told The Korea Herald.
According to Statistics Korea, suicide rates among teenagers have risen to 7.9 suicides per 100,000 teenagers in 2023 from 5.5 suicides in 2011, while other age groups have shown declining rates.
'Instead of focusing on the events of suicide itself, we need to focus on those who are left behind. We need systems that help the teenagers recognize when they're struggling and encourage them to seek help,' psychiatrist Baek Jong-woo of Kyung Hee University Hospital told The Korea Herald.
'More schools need to offer more programs to build emotional resilience in students, such as on-campus mental health counseling centers for students at risk, or mental health training sessions that help students manage their academic stress.'