So for the 11th year in a row now,
Korea's number one in suicides for the OECD
according to a 2015 report.
So we did a lot of research on this topic,
and we wanted to talk to you guys about
some of the stats, some of the causes
of suicide in Korea.
So even though around the OECD
suicides have been going down since 1985
since 2000, Korea's suicides have actually been going up.
On average, around 40 people commit suicide
everyday in South Korea.
And according to the 2015
United Nations Happiness report,
Korea ranked 5.9 out of 10 for happiness, and was
47 out of 158 countries.
I find these kinds of stats really shocking
considering how successful Korea seems
from the outside.
So even though Korea managed to pull itself out
of a war-stricken state, doing really well economically,
suicide is actually the number one cause of death
amongst teenagers.
The number one cause of death.
And this is considering how crazy driving is here
in Korea and how huge the traffic mortality rate's here,
suicide still outranks that.
I read a stat, further back, saying that
originally the number one cause of death in Korea
was actually automobiles, then cancer, and then suicide,
and then suicide started to switch
and climb up the ranks.
Not only is it the number one cause of death
amongst teenagers, it's actually the number one
cause of death between people ages 10 to 39.
So why are so many people committing suicide
at such a young age?
Well, between the years 2000 and 2003,
there were around a thousand people that
committed suicide between the age 10 and 18,
and it was actually caused because of
stress from education.
Due to really, really competitive college admission
processes and mass unemployment, a lot of teenagers
are feeling extreme stress
So in other words, it's school stress that's causing
so many people to commit suicide.
Yeah.
So then why is there this massive stress to get into
these three top universities,
the "SKY" universities?
I didn't feel this pressure at all when I was younger.
If I got a bad grade on a test,
I didn't care, I just went on with the rest of my life.
Yeah, the problem is, it's really tied into the idea of
being successful in Korea.
Yes.
So a lot of my students in my school,
they might get into tons of different universities
but these three universities are really the only ones
that people kind of think about.
They're the only ones that "matter", quote unquote.
That's a good way to say it.
So then if you get into these universities,
it's suggested that
Oh, by getting in, then you're gonna
get that great job at one of those good companies
and it's kind of like the rest of your life is set.
So imagine being told this since you're a little kid
and you've been training your entire life for this test.
If you don't get good enough grades to get into this university,
then why are you living?
This is pretty much the mentality that
a lot of students have
in Korea while I didn't necessarily feel that
in Canada whatsoever.
Yeah, it seems like it's a really huge pressure
on your shoulders at a really young age
when you're really emotionally volatile, right?
I even had one of my students at school commit suicide,
which is just
devastating
and heartbreaking
to think that such a young, beautiful human being
just ends their life over a test score.
In fact, this is such a serious issue in Korean schools
that during exam times, the rooftops are actually
locked off because there have been many instances
in which students, in the middle of test,
when they realize that they're not doing well enough
on the test, put down their pencil, walk to the top
and jump off
right in the middle of a test.
So even the apartment complexes in your
neighborhood, the roof access will be locked off,
all these different locations to prevent.
During university testing time.
It's that serious.
That's absolutely awful.
What's really interesting, though, is that the
Korea Youth Counselling and Welfare Institute
wound up saying that 80 to 90% of the
students that wind up seeking counseling
do wind up feeling a lot happier and feel the stress
relief from them of the university exams.
A lot of people actually don't realize this,
but there are not guidance counselors in high school,
In the schools, no.
Yeah, so where we grew up,
we all had guidance counselors
you might have been like,
"Oh my God, it's counselor"
but at least they were there.
Problem is, though, counseling is kind of stigmatized in Korea
Very stigmatized in Korea.
I feel like I want to say
it's being talked about more,
I remember there being a talk show recently,
that kind of got popular
about people going to counselors and dealing with
their phobias.
It's getting a little bit more accepted, but it's still
very much frowned upon.
Yeah, it's frowned upon and it can also be put
on your resume
and your health records for the future,
so if you're dealing with these issues,
and then you try to get a job in the future,
people can say,
"Oh, well why were you seeing a psychologist,
we don't want an unstable person in our company."
So the problem is, it kind of backs people into
a corner of feeling extremely helpless.
So it's a real shame that one of the possible solutions
for this problem is so stigmatized that
a lot of people aren't actually seeking that help.
Now even though the number one cause of death
amongst teenagers is suicide,
that is not the majority of people committing suicide.
Shockingly, it's actually people 65 years and older
that take up the majority of suicides in Korea.
The cause for suicide in senior citizens is primarily
financial. A lot of older people are supposedly forced
into early retirement and they don't have enough
savings to get through the rest of their lives.
The causes have been linked to problems
with money essentially,
unclear retirement plans and major financial difficulties
when they get older.
Outside of teenagers and senior citizens,
when it comes to adults, the number one cause
of suicides in Korea is mostly job-related.
In fact, when Job Korea surveyed 626 company
employees, 74.4% of them said they experienced
workplace depression.
As opposed to 49.9% of them in 2008.
That's almost a 30% increase in one year.
And see, what's upsetting about this is that
we talk about suicide amongst teenagers for the stress
of not getting into the university to get the job,
and then you get into the university,
which is still stressful,
suicide in university,
And then you get the job and you hate the job.
And 74.4% of you are depressed.
And then you retire from your job,
and you're depressed after that -- this is like a major problem.
So if you're watching this in the U.S.,
you might think that you hate your job
and supposedly 40% of you do.
But Korea, in fact, has one of the highest
stress levels in the world at 95%.
Not 40%, 95%.
So Korea has obviously realized that this is an issue
and they're actually taking some steps to try to
prevent suicide.
So the government has started an anti-suicide
movement called "Life 2019".
Korea's goal is to actually lower the suicide rate from
40 people per 100,000 down to
19 by 2019.
So the Korean government tried to initiate a plan
which kept people from studying too long
or like staying at a cramped school past midnight.
Supposedly, after 10 p.m. you're not allowed to operate
the school, but that doesn't actually mean anything
because a lot of schools just wind up turning off
their lights and keeping students in there
just so that they can appear as if they've
closed down at 10.
So there's a real big difference between
the government saying that they're trying to make changes,
and those changes actually being implemented.
It seems like, you know, it has to come from
within. The government can say it's illegal,
but the parents have to say,
"Oh, you're right. I shouldn't let my students stay late.
They should come home and have some free time."
So it needs to be like a full change of attitude
before this is gonna work.
Similar efforts are trying to be made in the workplace,
in which the government is trying to make people take
more of their vacation days,
even though they have vacation days, they are a bit
too afraid to take them because
they're worried about the work that's gonna pile up
and they're worried about the stigma that
they will get in the office if they want to
take a vacation.
Yeah, you seem like you're lazy,
Exactly.
Or like someone can replace your job while you're gone
so that you're not gonna leave, right?
You're not gonna take vacation.
But then again, there's a difference between
the government telling you to go on vacation
and your boss telling you that you can't go
on vacation.
Who are you gonna listen to?
Probably your boss.
Yeah, but there have been some really awesome movements happening
at the big companies, like the cable companies,
I don't remember which one, but I know that there's a
company that's been locking their employees out of the
computer system.
Right, so you can't log in to the system and do your work from there.
So you're on your honeymoon, and you're like
secretely in Fiji on the laptop, like you won't be able to.
They'll just lock you out.
So those are two big steps that the government's trying
to make to reduce the stress and make people feel less
competitive. So that hopefully suicide rates in Korea
will drop by 2019.
And I want to say to any of you watching right now,
if any of you guys are having suicidal thoughts,
or have a friend who's struggling with depression
or you're going through a crisis,
please, please, please click on the link here below.
It has links to worldwide suicide and crisis support phone numbers.
Please, please, please click this link
if you're feeling that way.
We know that a lot of you aren't watching within Korea,
there are a lot of you from all over the world so this link
will be relative to wherever you are.
Yes, and on our blog post, we're gonna be setting up
links as well to, if you're Korean and you're dealing with
issues, I've got sites linked for you in Korean
and if you're living in Korea but you're a foreigner,
As a foreigner as well.
We have some links to clinics that can help you guys
out as well. Please talk to somebody about this, okay?
I'm really sorry to have such a serious topic this week
but this is a real, serious issue in Korea,
a giant cloud has been hanging over the country for a long time,
we know many people that have been affected by this
and I really hope that the government's anti-suicide
movement has a really positive effect on
people living here in South Korea.