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Elderly Suicide Rate Snowballs in Korea
Joongang Ilbo
South Korea
May 18, 2005
The suicide rate for Korean senior citizens is the highest among the 30 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The climbing rate has prompted the government and local social workers to look for underlying causes.
In 2003, 2,760 South Koreans over 65 years of age killed themselves, a rate of 71 suicides per 100,000 seniors, according to data from the National Statistical Office.
That compares with only 10 suicides per 100,000 senior citizens in the United States and Australia. Even Japan known for its high suicide rate had only 32 suicides per 100,000 elderly people. Luxembourg ranked second highest, with 53 suicides per 100,000 seniors. Local experts warned the rate doubled from 2000 to 2003 and is still rising.
"Nowhere else in the world is there such a drastic increase [in elderly suicides]," said Rim Choon-seek, a social welfare professor at Hannam University. "This is shocking and tragic."
Seok Jae-eun, in charge of elderly welfare matters at the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, blamed a decaying social infrastructure in which the younger generation no longer feels the responsibility to take care of their elderly parents.
"The elderly expect their children to take care of them when they grow old, like they did for their parents," Ms. Seok said.
"But the younger generation is different. They expect the government to take care of their parents, and of course, the Korean society lacks the infrastructure," she said.
According to a Welfare Ministry survey, the percentage of elderly people living with their children has dropped about 10 percentage points in recent years, from 53 percent in 1998 to 43.5 percent last year.
Other research studies have indicated that senior citizens who live alone are three times as likely to commit suicide as those living with their children. Seoul police said 775 senior citizens killed themselves last year, as opposed to 717 in 2003.
Lee Hong-shick, president of the Korean Association for Suicide Prevention, said, "It is important to make sure that each family member recognizes the meaning of the family. A stronger social infrastructure is also an immediate need."
The government set aside 501 billion won ($501 million) this year for welfare
programs for senior citizens, representing about 0.4 percent of the budget.
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