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| A message on Mapo Bridge in Seoul reads, "You've been having a hard time." Mapo Bridge had a bad reputation as the "bridge of death" as it had the largest number of people committing suicide there between 2007 and 2012. Seoul City put phrases on the handrails of the bridge in an attempt to discourage potential suicide attempts. Korea Times file |
By Bahk Eun-ji
People who use the internet to share suicide tips or attempt to make suicide pacts will face a prison sentence, according to the new Suicide Prevention Law that took effect on July 16, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said.
Under the law, a punishment of up to two years in jail or fines of up to 20 million won ($16,970) will be handed down to those who post documents, photos or video clips showing suicide methods; instigate suicide; try to recruit others for suicide pacts or sell items knowing they will be used for suicide.
Previously there were no direct regulations to restrict such content.
Under the new law, telecommunication companies must provide customers' personal information, including their location, to the emergency authorities if they believe that person is likely to commit suicide.
Along with the implementation of the law, the Korean National Police Agency has launched a special crackdown on online material until Oct. 23.
Earlier in June, the health ministry, the police and the Korea Suicide Prevention Center (KSPC) carried out a campaign to delete online posts instigating suicide, with more than 160 volunteers participating in the campaign.
They found 16,966 posts, 1,413 per day on average, and they deleted 5,244 of them with assistance from the Korea Communications Standards Commission and telecommunication companies.
By types of posts, 8,902 or 52.5 percent were photos and video clips related to suicide, while 2,155 or 12.7 percent were from people seeking someone to commit suicide with them. Many photos and videos were depicting suicide as a joke, especially among teenagers.
Such content was spread mainly via social media.
According to recent data released by the ministry and the KSPC, the nation's overall suicide rate is on the decline, but it still remained the top cause of death among young people. The suicide rate among people aged between 10 and 24 stood at 7.6 out of every 100,000 people, which was the 11th-highest among the 36 OECD member states.
Suicide prevention campaign
The KSPC has been running a suicide prevention campaign since 2016. It has been one of President Moon Jae-in's key policy goals to reduce the number of suicides per 100,000 people from 24.3 in 2017 to 20 by 2020.
The campaign ― titled "Are you all right?" ― is a part of the government's efforts to encourage people to play a role in preventing people around them from killing themselves by paying attention to them.
The ministry and the suicide prevention center analyzed 289 cases of death by suicide from 2015 to 2018, and found more than 90 percent of people who killed themselves showed signs through their language and behavior, but only 21 percent of their families noticed them in advance.
Lim Hye-bin, 24, one of the volunteers of the ministry's campaign, shared her experience of a teenager she met during the campaign.
Lim said when she found more than 20 posts uploaded by the teenager on an internet community, which described hard times the user had been going through, she could not just ignore them because the user was just 17 years old.
"Three days after I read the posts, a photo showing evidence of self-harm was uploaded by the girl. I didn't know exactly what to say to her as I was just a stranger, but I sent her a message. Luckily, she replied a few hours later and her message was 'Are you thinking about attempting suicide?'"
Lim said the communication with the student made her recall her own experience of being bullied when she was in middle school.
"I was alone and I thought I had no friends at that time, which made me feel lonely. So I thought I might be a new friend to her."
Lim did not talk about anything related to suicide, but just made small talk with the girl, just like friends. A few weeks later, the student began to disclose her thoughts of suicide but revealed that she had changed her mind.
"I don't think paying a little attention to those signals is difficult, meaning anyone can do what I did, and anyone can save lives with these small actions," Lim said.
The KSPC runs 24-hour counseling hotlines at 1393 for adults and 1388 for youth.
