The Sad Stories

According to statics from 2019, the teenage suicide rate in South Korea increased by 55% since 2014, while the attempted suicide rate increased 9 times since 2016. The statistics of students at risk of committing suicide showed an increase of 270% since 2015, a terrifying number. With the statistics laid out, I want to dive into some of the most well-known cases of adolescent suicide in Korea.

In 2011, a high school freshman committed suicide at his very own residence after suffering from serious chronic bullying from two of his classmates. He listed all the horrible torments his so-called friends put him through in his last will right before taking his feet off the roof of his residence. In the will, he also wrote why he had to keep it a secret from his parents for so long despite wanting their help so desperately: because he did not want to break their hearts.

After six months, in the same city, another high school junior ended his life in the same way also due to chronic bullying. I particularly remember this case well because of one footage I saw on the news that covered his case. The footage was from a surveillance camera in the elevator at his residence and captured one of his last moments on earth. Filmed on the morning of his death, the footage shows him squatting down on the floor of the elevator, crying by himself. 7 hours later, he took the same elevator to go up to the rooftop, just to end his life there.

In the same year, another middle school student died from suicide. This time, the blame fell on her homeroom teacher. After discovering that one of her classmates had been bullied by other students in the class, she dropped an anonymous letter to her homeroom teacher asking to help her friend. But upon receiving the letter, the teacher’s focus was rather on detecting who the letter was from and punished everyone in the class until the student stepped forward. Filled with guiltiness towards her classmates and fear of becoming the target of bullying, the student took her own life away right after school that day.

Middle school and high school students are not the only ones in danger of this sad reality. In 2016, an elementary school student was found dead in the bathroom at an afterschool cram school in Korea. With his backpack straps wrapped around his neck, the police ruled the death to be from suicide.

What needs to be pointed out is the reaction of a few South Korean adults to these news reports. While the majority sends condolences to the lost souls and their family members, there are always a few that scold the students’ decisions to end to their lives. They criticize that school bullying, family problems, or academic pressures are nothing to kill yourself over. They call the lost souls “weak”, commenting that a lot of people knowingly or unknowingly go through hardships but still keep their lives together like the strong people they are.

It is just saddening to witness so many people still not realizing what the deeper issue is in South Korea.