코리아타임뉴스 안창현 기자 | South Korea’s suicide crisis is no longer a potential emergency waiting to happen. It is an ongoing national disaster that threatens both the lives of its citizens and the country’s long-term sustainability.

 

In 2024, 14,872 people died by suicide in South Korea, an increase of 894 deaths, or 6.4 percent, from the previous year. That means an average of 40.6 people took their own lives every day.

 

The crude suicide rate reached 29.1 deaths per 100,000 people, up 6.6 percent from the previous year and the highest level recorded since 2011.

 

Even when adjusted for age to allow international comparison, South Korea’s suicide rate remains approximately 2.4 times the OECD average. According to internationally comparable data, South Korea recorded an age-standardized suicide rate of 26.2 deaths per 100,000 people, compared with an OECD average of 10.8.

 

In another OECD comparison based on 2023 data, South Korea’s suicide rate stood at 23.2 per 100,000 people, the highest among member countries, while the OECD average was 10.7.

 

Across the OECD, the average suicide rate declined from 15.1 in 2003 to 10.7 in 2023. South Korea, however, has remained at more than twice the OECD average. While many advanced countries have steadily reduced suicide deaths, South Korea has been unable to escape the disgraceful position of having the highest suicide rate in the organization.

 

The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 727,000 people die by suicide worldwide each year. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 29.

 

The WHO defines suicide not simply as a consequence of mental illness, but as a serious public health problem shaped by a combination of economic hardship, relationship conflict, chronic illness, violence, bereavement and social isolation. It also stresses that suicide can be prevented through timely, evidence-based intervention.

 

Why, then, has South Korea failed to reduce its suicide rate despite announcing numerous national plans and investing considerable public resources?

 

The answer is not that the country lacks policies. Rather, its policies have focused too heavily on identifying individuals immediately before a crisis, without going far enough to change the social conditions that push people toward despair in the first place.

 

A National Emergency More Than Twice the OECD Average

 

The figure of 14,872 suicide deaths is not merely a statistic.

 

Every day, the equivalent of an entire school classroom disappears. Each death leaves behind parents, spouses, children, friends and colleagues who must live with profound grief and trauma.

 

A suicide does not end with the death of one individual.

 

Government analyses have found that suicide-bereaved family members face a substantially elevated risk of suicide themselves. The risk has been estimated to be 8.3 times higher for bereaved men and 9 times higher for bereaved women than for the general population.

 

The economic impact is also enormous. Based on lost future income, the socioeconomic cost of suicide was estimated at approximately 409 million won per death in 2021, with the total national cost reaching about 5.4 trillion won.

 

Human life cannot and should not be reduced to a monetary figure. Nevertheless, these estimates demonstrate how deeply suicide damages not only individuals and families, but society and the national economy as a whole.

 

In 2024, the male suicide rate was 41.8 per 100,000 people, while the female rate was 16.6. The male rate was approximately 2.5 times higher, and the number of male suicide deaths was also about 2.5 times greater.

 

Compared with the previous year, the suicide rate among men rose by 3.5 deaths per 100,000 people, while the rate among women increased by 0.2.

 

These figures point to the particular pressures facing men in Korean society. Men are often expected to bear primary responsibility for household income and financial stability. Job loss and business failure are frequently interpreted not as temporary social or economic setbacks, but as evidence of personal incompetence.

 

At the same time, many men have been socialized to regard emotional expression and help-seeking as signs of weakness. This combination of economic responsibility, social isolation and reluctance to seek support may increase their vulnerability.

 

The gender gap is not unique to South Korea. Across OECD member countries in 2023, the average suicide rate for men was 17.2 per 100,000 people, compared with 5 for women.

 

What makes South Korea especially alarming, however, is that suicide rates are high for both men and women, while the absolute level among men is exceptionally severe.

 

A society that demands men act as sole providers, yet offers them few safe channels through which to discuss unemployment, debt, illness or family conflict, must examine its own responsibility.

 

Young Adults Are Losing Their Future, While the Middle-Aged Are Losing the Strength to Endure

 

The increase in suicide deaths is not evenly distributed across generations.

 

In 2024, the sharpest increase occurred among people in their 30s, whose suicide rate rose by 14.9 percent. This was followed by those in their 40s, with an increase of 14.7 percent, and those in their 50s, with a rise of 12.2 percent.

 

By contrast, suicide rates among people aged 80 and above and those in their 70s declined by 10.3 percent and 8.7 percent, respectively.

 

Suicide among older adults remains extremely serious, but the latest figures show that the recent increase is concentrated among younger and middle-aged adults.

 

People in their 30s often face multiple pressures at the same time: employment, marriage, housing, childbirth and household debt.

 

Even those with stable jobs may struggle to afford housing and child care. Young adults in temporary, freelance or platform-based employment may find it difficult to make any long-term plans at all.

 

For people in their 40s and 50s, the burden is different but no less severe. They may be responsible for their children’s education, elderly parents, mortgage payments and retirement preparation simultaneously.

 

When they lose a job or a business fails, opportunities for reemployment narrow sharply. Many are forced to accept lower wages or unstable work, despite years of professional experience.

 

In a culture where people are expected to support their families through their own income, financial failure can easily be interpreted as personal failure.

 

Earlier police data also revealed that mental and psychiatric problems accounted for 39.8 percent of identified suicide motives, economic difficulties for 24.2 percent and physical illness for 17.7 percent.

 

Among men aged 31 to 60, economic difficulties were the most frequently identified motive.

 

This is why mental health policy cannot be separated from employment, debt relief, housing security and social welfare.

 

A person may receive counseling for depression, but if that person returns to unemployment, overwhelming debt, housing insecurity and family conflict, the underlying crisis remains unresolved.

 

Mental Health Screening Alone Is Not Enough

 

The government’s Fifth Basic Plan for Suicide Prevention set a target of reducing the suicide rate by 30 percent, from 26 per 100,000 people in 2021 to 18.2 by 2027.

 

The plan includes five major strategies: establishing a life-safety network, reducing suicide risk factors, strengthening post-crisis care, providing targeted prevention for vulnerable groups and improving the policy foundation.

 

The overall direction is appropriate

 

The government has proposed shortening the interval for national mental health screening from once every 10 years to once every two years. It also plans to expand screening beyond depression to include conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and to connect high-risk individuals with psychiatric services.

 

Other measures include round-the-clock monitoring of online content that encourages suicide, treatment and counseling support for suicide-attempt survivors and bereaved families, and the creation of community-based “life-respect and safety villages.”

 

All of these measures are necessary

 

However, the fact that the suicide rate still climbed to 29.1 in 2024 shows that the government must conduct a fundamental review of its targets and implementation system.

 

Early detection has limited value if people identified as high risk must wait months for counseling or treatment.

 

It is also ineffective when community mental health centers are understaffed and unable to provide sustained case management.

 

And treatment alone cannot solve the problem if patients return to unemployment, debt, unstable housing and family conflict immediately afterward.

 

Suicide prevention must not be treated as the responsibility of the Ministry of Health and Welfare and mental health professionals alone.

 

It requires coordinated action by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Financial Services Commission, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, local governments and all agencies responsible for the social conditions that shape people’s lives.

 

A national suicide-prevention strategy must address not only the mind in crisis, but also the circumstances that produced that crisis.
 

Changhyun An