Seoulite negative, but sympathetic towards suicide

Seoul citizens are found to have negative attitudes towards suicide but sympathetic to people who take their own lives, according to a poll by Korean Research on 1,000 people, which was commissioned by the Seoul City Government.

About eighty-eight per cent of respondents agree that suicide is an act of deserting one’s own family, 82.6 per cent say it is not right in any case, and 71.9 per cent agree that it a serious moral sin.

But over 50 per cent say they can understand people who take their own lives, 36.2 per cent consider it to be one of many options, and 32.5 per cent think it is ones’ own right.

In Korea, suicide has increased in five consecutive years, with 26 cases out of 100,000 in 2006, which is the biggest among OECD member countries. The statistics shows that 33 people, on average, take their own life a day last year, 2.2 times more than 1995.

It takes up 4.9 per cent of death causes in 2005, 5.9% for man and 3.6% for woman, and it is the biggest cause for death among people age from 20-39.

Compared to the 1995 statistics, suicide-caused death has increased a lot. In 1995, suicide ranked 9th but 4th in 2005 as the cause for death . In 1995, 11.8 cases out of 100,000 kill themselves, but 26.1 in 2005.