The Suicide Rate Gets Worse in 2009

I say many wonderful things about South Korea when I talk to family and friends back home.  But inevitably, I end up giving the shocking statistic that Koreans kill themselves at an alarming rate.  They have the highest suicide rate in the developed world and new reports about data collected from 2009 indicates the problem is only getting worse.

First, on average, 40 Koreans Kill Themselves Every Day:

Some 14,579 people killed themselves last year, or a daily average of about 40, the National Police Agency said Wednesday. That was an increase of 18.8 percent from 2008. 

People over 61 made up the largest portion with 4,614 suicides or 31.6 percent. Police said this was mainly linked to disease and stress caused by economic hardship. 

Among those in their 40s, 2,770 killed themselves, accounting for 19 percent of the total, followed by those in their 50s with 2,427 (16.6 percent), and those in their 30s with 2,508 (17.2 percent). Suicides among 20s continue to increase from 1,428 in 2005 to 1, 793 last year. Some 452 youngsters under 20 killed themselves. 

By gender, 9,395 men and 5,167 women took their own lives. Among people in their 40s, men outnumbered women by 2.4:1 and among those in their 50s by 3.1: 1. 

The largest proportion or 28.3 percent apparently killed themselves due to mental problems, followed by 21.9 percent because of physical diseases; 16.2 percent over economic hardship; 12.6 percent due to domestic conflict; 7.1 percent due to relationship problems; and 6.6 percent due to trouble at work.

To begin, suicides in Korea may be underreported.  To spare families and communities the grief, I have heard many times that suicides are ruled by detectives as accidental homicides.  This is not unique to Korea, family and friends always want to believe that the loss of a loved one was an accident and not a suicide.

There is a major misconception that the suicide rate is a result of mostly students killing themselves for poor grades or business men killing themselves for losing their job.  Those are the stories that make headlines in the papers.  However, the suicide epidemic in Korea is actually amongst the elderly and the poor.  Of those who committed suicide, 31.6 percent were over the age of 61.  Reasons I have heard for this include they feel like an economic burden on their family or society.  The government should be doing more to help the elderly poor so as to reduce this horrifying trend.  I argue that suicides run in the family.  Children of parents who committed suicide are more likely to commit suicide themselves.

Second, Juvenile Suicides are on the Rise:

The number of suicides among youngsters is on a steep rise. Last year 202 people who killed themselves were still at school, up 47 percent from 137 in 2008, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said Sunday. 

The figure was around 100 to 140 until 2008 but surpassed 200 for the first time in 2009. High school students made up the largest share or 140, followed by 56 middle school students and 6 elementary school children. 

Park Hee-keun, a ministry official, said, "Impulsive and emotionally unstable adolescents seem to have been affected by the 'Werther Effect' with the increasing number of suicides committed by celebrities." Since 2005, many celebrities including actresses Lee Eun-joo, Jung Da-bin, Choi Jin-sil, actors Ahn Jae-hwan, Choi Jin-young, Park Yong-ha and singer Yuni committed suicide. 

Among reasons for juvenile suicides, family conflict accounted for 69 cases; depression for 27; poor performance at school 23; romantic relationships 12; illness or physical problems 7; and bullying or violence 4.

I am an English teacher in a public school, and thankfully I have never had a student of mine commit suicide, but I know other native English teachers that have.  It is traumatic for teachers I think.  I cannot imagine what effect it has on the other students who have known the deceased their entire lives.  Suicide is contagious, and copycat suicides of celebrities is part of that.  I would be really interested to know of these students who killed themselves, how many had either a parent, grandparent, or sibling that committed suicide as well.  There is probably a strong correlation.

The "reasons" statistics for juvenile suicides also make no sense.  Cannot a child both have family conflicts and poor performance at school be the reason for the suicide?  In theory,  a child could have all of these reasons be contributing factors.  Bizarre that in police reports they would give only a single defining reason to explain the death.

When To Not Drive For Chuseok

The Chosun Ilbo was kind enough to give us the survey results to know when to avoid the roads:

Traffic congestion during Chuseok or Korean Thanksgiving, which falls on Sept. 22 this year, is expected to be most serious on the morning of Sept. 21 when travelers hit expressways to travel to their hometowns, and on the afternoon of Sept. 22, when they travel back to urban areas. 

In a survey by the Korea Transport Institute for the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, 40.3 percent of respondents said they will travel to their hometowns on the morning of Sept. 21. That was followed by the morning of Chuseok (19.3 percent) and the afternoon of Sept. 21 (14.5 percent). 

Meanwhile, 36 percent of respondents said they will hit expressways to travel back to urban areas on the afternoon of Sept. 22, followed by the afternoon of Sept. 23 (29.1 percent) and the morning of Sept. 23 (15.7 percent). 

What does this mean?  It means if you have a flexible schedule at all, you should consider not traveling on the morning of September 21st or the afternoon of September 22nd.

Chuseok this year is a weird time, being a tuesday, wednesday, and thursday.  Many schools and companies are giving their employees either the monday before or the friday after the day off as well, which should alleviate a little the road jams.

This estimate is similar to traffic flow during previous Chuseok holidays, showing that traffic along nationwide expressways will not be distributed any better even though some companies take as many as nine days off for Chuseok this year. 

On the most congested days, it will likely take as many as four hours for vehicles to travel from Seoul to Daejeon, eight hours to Busan, six hours and 30 minutes to Gwangju or Mokpo, and four hours and 30 minutes to Gangneung. 

Some 81.1 respondents said they will take their own cars, followed by buses (13.6 percent), trains (4.1 percent) and airplanes (0.7 percent).

From Seoul to Gwangju it is estimated to be six and a half hours, and I know that this trip is usually around four hours.  So... an additional half hours should be expected for every hour you anticipate being on the road.

Happy Chuseok!

South Korea is 5th Worldwide in Road Fatalities

I suspected they were bad, but I am surprised that it is this bad:

Korean roads are the fifth deadly in the world, according to a survey by the International Transport Forum. 

Quoting a survey by the Paris-based forum, the U.K. Daily Mail on Wednesday said Korea ranked fifth among 33 major countries with 12 road deaths per 100,000 people. It tails Malaysia (23.8 deaths), Argentina (18.4), Greece (13.8), and Cambodia (12.6). 

The U.S. ranked seventh with 11.1 deaths and Japan tied with Switzerland at 27th with 4.5. The U.K. was the safest with a mere 3.8. 

Korea topped the list in terms of annual road fatalities per billion km driven with 20.1 deaths, followed by the Czech Republic (19.4) and Malaysia (17.7).

Something to remember with these numbers is that it is per 100,000 people, and not per 100,000 cars or drivers.  I am sure that there are more road fatalities in countries like China and India per 100,000 cars or drivers.  But larger percentages of their populations (millions of people who never leave their villages) do not have cars and are not driving at all.

Whereas, Korea has a robust automotive industry and a world class network of highways and roads.  Once a family hits middle class, they buy a car and learn how to drive it for the first time when they are in their thirties or forties.  I have no statistics to back this up, but I bet a lot of elderly people in Korea are learning to drive as their children finally earn them enough income to afford a car to drive, and those people might be a contributing growing percentage of road fatalities.

You could also blame the staggering amount of alcohol consumption in Korea or the complete lack of traffic law enforcement.  Take your pick!

South Korea Has Coffin Academies?

This is just weird and creepy.  South Korea has the highest suicide rate in the developed world, and I just do not see how participating in something like this can help anyone who suffers from depression or suicidal thoughts.

Al Jazeera has the report:

In an attempt to improve and find a meaning to their lives some South Koreans have taken the unusual step of going to the grave.

At South Korea's coffin-academy people come to die, in order to learn how to live.

The people remain inside coffins for a total of ten minutes. And the funeral director says, it is in these quiet moments, that he has seen lives transformed.

Many say the near-death experiences which they term 'well-dying' are the best way to achieve long lasting inner peace.

Al Jazeera's Steve Chao reports from Daejeon in South Korea.

What the heck is a thirteen year old girl doing there participating in a living funeral?  Cultural differences be damned, this is NOT healthy.

The Governator Catches the KTX

The above photo is a reference to the movie Predator if you are confused.

The Last Action Hero made it to South Korea this week.

Article Here:

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was given a red-carpet welcome in Korea on Wednesday, meeting President Lee Myung-bak, two government ministers and two top CEOs. Seoul gave Schwarzenegger the VIP treatment because the state of California is pursuing a W50 trillion (US$1=W1,163) high-speed rail project, which presents major business opportunities for Korean companies. 

...

After lunch he rushed over to Seoul Station and hopped on the KTX bullet train that took him to Asan in South Chungcheong Province as railway officials explained Korea's technological prowess in high-speed rail construction and operation. Schwarzenegger said he was "impressed" at the speed and efficiency of Korea's high-speed rail and wanted to learn more.

California is seeking to build a bullet train network at a cost of $42.6 billion, and bidding is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2012. Seven countries including Korea are expected to take part.

These high-speed rail projects happening right now in the United States is one of the center pieces of President Obama's economic stimulus package.  The United States desperately needs high speed rail, and no place more than along the coasts between major cities in California and New England.  That would be fantastic if South Korea could get some of those construction and design contracts.

I am sure Arnold never predicted something such as Youtube would come along, but he (and many other American celebrities) made ridiculous commercials in Japan in the 80s and 90s and assumed nobody in the English speaking world would ever see them.  Well, someone found them all and made a greatest hits collection on Youtube of all of Arnold's more absurd Japanese commercials.

They're all great, but my favorite is at 7:20.

First Korean Women's ROTC Program Established

The Chosun Ilbo wrote an editorial titled "Glass Ceiling in the Military Must Be Shattered":

The Defense Ministry has chosen Sookmyung Women's University as Korea's first university to operate the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program for women, and six of the universities with the ROTC program for men are allowed to take in five female cadets from this year. The first group of female ROTC cadets will be commissioned into service in 2013.

The ministry plans to expand the number of commissioned female officers from the current 4.3 percent (3,111 officers) to 7.7 percent over the next 10 years, while increasing the number of non-commissioned female officers from 2.9 percent (3,051 officers) to 5.5 percent. Women account for 16 percent of the officers in the U.S. military, 8.1 percent in the U.K. and 13 percent in France. 

These statistics are interesting, but maybe misleading.  The other Western military powers mentioned are all volunteer armies.  Whereas, every male in South Korea has to join the military.  Women in South Korea are exempted and therefore it only makes sense that they would account for such a smaller percentage.  If anything, I am shocked the number of female officers now is as high as 4.3 percent.

I have attended job fairs and graduate fairs in the United States and military recruiters are desperate for officer applicants with specialty skills in computers, languages, or medicine.  I am sure that is why it is so high in the United States.  Simple demand for highly skilled people (regardless of their gender) has led to that high of a percentage.

The Korean military must open its doors further to qualified women to keep abreast of the growing importance of technology, computers, automated systems and communications networks in the military. As of 2008, women accounted for 42 percent of 894,987 public servants. The Air Force Academy admitted its first female cadet in 1997 and the Military and Navy academies followed suit in 1998 and 1999. At first, there was skepticism over the moves, but the graduation of skilled female officers has brought new vigor to the military. 

Really?  "abreast"?  Was that a coincidental pun or not?

Korea's birthrate stands at only 1.15 children. That is the lowest in the world and leads to a decline in the number of eligible male recruits, triggering intense debate over whether to lengthen or shorten mandatory military service. The women’s ROTC program could offer a solution to this manpower dilemma. 

But the government should look at more than numbers if female officers are to present genuine solutions. It must let female officers harbor big aspirations. 

In the U.S., Ann Elizabeth Dunwoody became the first female four-star generals as commanding general for the Army Material Command in 2008. But Korea has seen only five female generals in its military history since a nursing commander became the country's first female general in 2002. They were all from the nursing corps and reached no rank higher than major general. The only current active-duty female general is the president of the Armed Forces Nursing Academy. If women are to become part of the core of our military, the glass ceiling must be shattered so that they can become generals in combat and other commands too.

Korea's female soldiers mark 60 years of service this year. The new milestones will mark new achievements for the entire military.

I agree with this editorial.  But one thing about South Korea that makes them different from western powers is that they do not see the genders as equal yet.  They do not even pretend in the slightest.  Women in South Korea still have an American 1950's image expected of them.  They have to do all the cooking, cleaning, childcare, and are expected to look good all the time and baby their husbands when they get home from work.  Despite knowing how women in the western world have socially evolved since then, Korean women still do it.  They wear the heels.  They give up their careers to be stay at home moms.  They cook.  They clean.  They become their husband's second mother.  This is still a patriarchal society and it is socially expected for men to be favored over women in almost every way.

There is no reason military service cannot be required for every man and women in South Korea.  This is already the case countries like Israel.  Military service could then perhaps be reduced for everyone down to fifteen or even twelve months.  It would make more citizens combat trained and better prepared in the event the North ever tried something.

I found this video, there are a few pictures of female special forces.  I am sure these women know how to kill me just as fast as any Korean man in the special forces:

KPOP Korral - [2NE1] - Can't Nobody, Clap Your Hands, & Go Away

2NE1 is one of the hottest KPOP groups of 2010 and my clear favorite group in KPOP.  I have liked them since the first time I saw them.  The reason for this is because they have a good sound, a fun image, and are proud individuals.  Too many girl groups are just five to nine identical looking women with slightly different hair styles doing all they can to look submissive and cute.  There is a proud place in KPOP for that, but it looks the same to me.  2NE1 is the most unique group and therefore they get my highest recommendation for good KPOP.

With that said... I was disappointed with their latest album.  CL, Minzy, Dara, and Bom decided to be bold and release and promote three singles all at the same time.  Allkpop.com had this to say about their decision to release three singles at once:

You’ve read correctly, folks – the female hip-hop quartet 2NE1 will be promoting not one, not two, butthree tracks simultaneously at one given period of time!

Such decision is definitely unprecedented in K-pop industry (or perhaps any other music industries out there), since most artists tend to promote only one, two at max, song at a time. Not only that, triple promotion is quite risky and adventurous as well, with such large amount of money at stake.

Many professionals have expressed their concerns toward YG’s decision. If three tracks will be promoted, an unbelievable amount of money will have to be spent on making the music videos for all the songs. Also, the rankings on various music charts will be in mess, which would cause a great deal of damage.

Founder of YG, Yang Hyun Suk revealed, “As a music producer, I’ve heard the ‘double title track’ promotional method a couple of times. However, this is my first time hearing of three title tracks. The reason we’ve decided to choose this path anyway is because our wish to spread 2NE1’s various unique music styles is bigger than our desire to win first place.”

The review of the album was not entirely favorable either.  The ending comments summed it up best and I am going to have to agree with allkpop.com about their latest album:

I’m going to be quite frank. I was really shocked by the amount of auto-tune in the album, and so after my first run-through, I felt disappointed, and even bereft. Yes, there were highlights in the form of “Clap Your Hands”, “It Hurts (Slow)”, and “Go Away.” Yes, the girls did not compromise on that sass, that swagger, which makes their delivery unique and their presence charismatic. But what happened? Perhaps it’s just me hating on auto-tune, like the way stiff art critics hate on Jackson Pollock.

It’s new, it’s fairly provocative in the way that these girls won’t hold back. I do recommend you give the record a few good turns, and flesh out how you feel about it. Regardless of whether my review interested or infuriated you, I stand by this point at the end of the day: 2NE1 is one of the most interesting groups in the Korean music industry, and I will continue to support them as they continue to transcend limitations and expectations.

I actually think these girls are great dancers with pretty good voices, so the extreme artificial sound of their voices is a disappointment.  Here are the songs, you can be the judge yourself about the amounts of auto-tune.  Even for KPOP, it is over the top in my opinion.

Song #1 - Can't Nobody

Song #2 - Go Away

Song #3 - Clap Your Hands (박수쳐)

The are still my favorite...

KPOP Korral - [2NE1] - Try to Follow Me

2NE1 is part of the YG Entertainment family and debuted last year.  They were initially being called the female version of Big Bang, and made several appearances with them to spike their popularity.  The group name has several meanings, obviously "21" or "ToAnyone" and their name was said to be the name of a group that "will produce music that is fresh like the age of 21. And like the number '21' in a game of Blackjack, it’s meant to never lose."  It has also been said to stand for "New Evolution of the 21'st Century".

The group's four members are CL (Lee Chae Rin, 이채린), Bom (Park Bom, 박봄), Dara (Sandara Park, 박산다라), and Minzy (Gong Min Ji, 공민지).  They released the song "Try to Follow Me" (날 따라 해봐요) earlier this year and the video was one of my favorites thus far of 2010.

Their official website

Additionally, to highlight all the individual talents of each of the four members, at the end of last year all four members released solo songs and then promoted them as a group.

CL and Minzy released a duet titled "Please Don't Go" and just did some awesome live performances.  No music video was produced.  If this link goes dead, someone should tell me so I can find another performance.

Park Bom released a slower tempo song titled "You and I".  It has a fun (maybe sad) story.

Finally, Dara released a single titled "Kiss".  I like this the least because she obviously partnered with Cass Beer to promote this song and the beer is disgusting.  The product placement in this video is so horrendous that I at first thought this was some kind of joke of a long commercial and not actually a music video.

US Navy Delays Plans to Remove 8,500 Soldiers from Okinawa

The military bases in Japan have been a rising point of contention in the Japanese government.  World War II ended sixty years ago and Japan was constitutionally limited to a small defense force.  The US officially acts as Japan's military in the event of conflict.  However, many Japanese feel like the time in right for the United States to reduce their military presence and let the Japanese reclaim their own security.

RT filed a report:

Currently 18% of the main island of Okinawa is occupied by the United States military.  Residents of the island complain about the size of the bases (when space is so limited) as well as noise pollutions and crime.  According to the treaty that Japan signed that let to the creation of these military bases, American citizens attached to the bases cannot be tried under Japanese law.  US citizens are above Japanese law and can only be held accountable for their actions my military courts.  The report says that 90% of crime is alcohol or traffic related, but there have been cases of rape or murder.

We will see what happens, but I am certain that under no circumstances does the United States want to relocate or remove their bases when North Korea remains unstable and China continues to grow in strength.

Youtube and the Real Name Verification Law

If you are foreigner and new to Korea and possibly excited to start your own blog or post videos of your new life for family members back home to see, you might be confused why Youtube will not let you.



You might see a green error message when you try to upload a videao after creating your youtube account.  It states the following both in Korean and English:

본인확인제로 인해 한국 국가 설정시 동영상/댓글 업로드 기능을 자발적으로 비활성화합니다.

We have voluntarily disabled this functionality on kr.youtube.com because of the Korean real-name verification law.

Likwise if you try and post any kind of comment on Youtube, you will get a simpler error message with no explanation.  Well then... what is the "Korean real-name verification law"?