South Korea has one of the world’s highest suicide rates, with 28.6 suicides per 100,000 inhabitants. The problem is not only serious, it is growing rapidly. Along the Han River in the capital Seoul, suicide attempts have more than doubled from 430 in 2018, to 1,035 in 2023. In a new report from the Seoul City Council, politician Kim Ki-duck offers his theory as to why South Korea, a well-developed country with strong economy, struggling with a sky-high suicide rate. The report was published on the city council’s website, but is now receiving international attention from media such as Time, the BBC and the Independent. The city council member in Seoul believes that women’s increased participation in the workforce has made it more difficult for men to get jobs – and to find women to marry, writes the BBC. The report, which is published on the city council’s website, says that South Korea has “recently begun to change into a female-dominated society”. The female dominance is stated as “part of the reason for the increase in male suicide attempts”. City councilor Kim Ki-duck is now facing harsh criticism for his comments. The world’s highest suicide rates Suicide per 100,000 inhabitants: 1. Leshoto: 72.4 2. Guyana: 40.3 3. Eswatini: 29.4 4. South Korea: 28.6 5. Kiribati: 28.3 6. Micronesia: 28 .2 7. Lithuania: 26.1 8. Suriname: 25.4 9. Russia: 25.1 10. South Africa: 23.5 49. Norway: 11.8 “Very regrettable” – It is dangerous and unwise to bring such claims without sufficient evidence, says Song In Han, a professor of mental health at Yonsei University in Seoul. He believes the comments from the city councilor were “very deplorable”, and that the increase in suicide among men needs to be scientifically studied. The BBC has been in contact with city councilor Kim, who says “he did not mean to be critical of the female-dominated society”. The BBC has also been in contact with the Seoul city council, which says that “individuals are responsible for their comments and will face the consequences at the next election”. A statue of a person comforting another, on the Han River in Seoul. The statue is set up as a countermeasure against suicide. Photo: Reuters Former school for women But as many angry South Koreans have written on X in recent days: this is just the latest in a long line of misogynistic comments from the country’s politicians. In June, another city councilor came up with a proposal that women should take up gymnastics and practice pelvic floor exercises to have more children. Birth rates are so low that more prams are sold for dogs than for children in South Korea. Another example of misogynistic comments came from a think tank, which advocated that women should start school earlier. That way, the classmates would be more attracted to each other when they were ready to get married. – Such comments show how widespread misogyny is in South Korea, says Yuri Kim, director of the Korean Women’s Trade Union, to the BBC. – Blaming women for entering the workforce will only prolong the imbalance in our society, says the union leader. The National Assembly of South Korea, Kuk Hoe. Here, only 20 percent of the members are women. Photo: AP/NTB Scanpix Sites with equality Even though South Korea is a rich country, the country still struggles with equality between the sexes. In the country’s national assembly (Kuk Hoe), only 20 percent of the members are women. In comparison, Norway has 45 per cent women in the Storting. In working life, it is very common for women to work temporarily or part-time, and women are paid an average of 29 percent less than men. Lee Min-ah, professor of sociology at Chung-Ang University, tells the Independent that the solution is not to overcome the female-dominated society, but to overcome patriarchal gender roles. – If men feel anxious as more women enter society, we must move towards a society that breaks away from the traditional gender roles where men are supposed to be breadwinners or where women are supposed to be the only ones who take care of the children, says Lee. Published 11.07.2024, at 15.09
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Politician blames women for several suicides – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
