Suicide in South Korea

South Korea records the world's fourth highest suicide rate, and highest suicide rate in the OECD.^[3] The elderly are at the highest risk of suicide, but teen suicide deaths have been rising since 2010: Suicide caused more than half of all deaths among South Koreans in their 20s in 2022, and it is the leading cause of death among those in their teens, 20s, and 30s.^[3]

The high recorded suicide rates compared to other countries in the developed world are exacerbated by the prevalence of suicide among the elderly. One factor of suicide among elderly South Koreans is due to the amount of relative poverty among senior citizens in South Korea, even though it has been consistently declining since 2011. Combined with a poorly-funded social safety net for the elderly, this can result in the elderly dying by suicide to not be a financial burden on their families, since the traditional social structure in which children looked after their parents in their old age has largely disappeared in the 21st century.^[4][5]

As a result, people living in rural areas tend to have higher suicide rates. This is due to self-reported high rates of elderly discrimination, especially when applying for jobs, with 85.7% of those in their 50s self-reporting discrimination.^[6] Age discrimination also directly correlates to suicide, on top of influencing poverty rates.^[7] Suicide is the number one cause of death among South Koreans aged 10 to 39.^[8][9] This is in line with most OECD countries.

Proactive government efforts to decrease the rate have shown effectiveness in 2014, when there were 27.3 suicides per 100,000 people, a 4.1% decline from the previous year (28.5 people) and the lowest in six years since 2008's 26.0 people.^[10][11]

A TIME Magazine investigation published in 2024 reported that South Korea's suicide prevention and mental health welfare centers receive "absolutely insufficient" government funding, data or support. Senior officials from six local mental health centers alleged the central government is withholding suicide-related data from their centers "to shield districts, cities, and provinces with high rates of suicide from reputational damage," which the report said obstructs their efforts "to enact policies that would meet the needs of their communities and, ultimately, save lives."^[12]