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Another Korean entertainer suicide
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eumyang



Joined: 01 Jan 2010

PostPosted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 12:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

peppermint wrote:
According to this:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10459061.stm he couldn't cope with seeing his father die of cancer. Suicides are always sad, but my heart breaks for his family, now faced with planning two funerals.

If that is true, wouldn't it be selfish on the actor's part, then? I know suicide is a mental health issue, but, and I know this is horrible to say this, not wanting to cope with seeing your father die of cancer isn't a good enough reason to take your own life. I don't know -- my father is still alive, so I guess I'm not qualified to say.

If I knew that I myself was going to die slowly of a debilitating disease, however, then that's a different story; I would consider suicide so that I wouldn't have to suffer.


음양
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Mariella713



Joined: 22 May 2010

PostPosted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 12:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

CentralCali wrote:
Suicide is a mental health issue. It's not an issue of something in life being "not difficult" to one who doesn't have the mental health problem.


Ehh. In many countries a person who commits suicide or attempts to do so or even thinks about it seriously is considered mentally ill. But that has not always been true throughout human history, and neither is it true today in all cultures around the world. Hinduism & Buddhism don't have any intrinsic objections to suicide and in some forms of Buddhism self-incineration is believed to confer special merit. Not to mention, the Celts believed that those who committed suicide before their powers waned went to heaven, and those who died of illness or became senile went to hell...simply a reversal of Christian doctrine.

The best known example of a society where suicide is socially acceptable is Japan. Rather than thinking of suicide as being always caused by a mental disease or illness, the Japanese in some circumstances consider suicide the normal, socially acceptable thing to do, such as when one "loses face" or is humiliated by some sort of failure. I don't know about Korea though, because I haven't studied Korean culture much TBH.
But think about it - even in the US & UK, aren't virtually suicidal acts done for the sake of one's fellow soldiers or for one's country during wartime thought of not as insanity but as bravery? Why do people think of such persons as heros rather than lunatics? It seems people condemn (or "diagnose") suicidal people as crazy or mentally ill only when they end their own lives for selfish reasons (the "I can't take it any more" kind of reasons) rather than for the benefit of other people. The real issue seems to be selfishness rather than suicide.
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peppermint



Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: traversing the minefields of caddishness.

PostPosted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 1:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

eumyang wrote:
peppermint wrote:
According to this:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10459061.stm he couldn't cope with seeing his father die of cancer. Suicides are always sad, but my heart breaks for his family, now faced with planning two funerals.

If that is true, wouldn't it be selfish on the actor's part, then? I know suicide is a mental health issue, but, and I know this is horrible to say this, not wanting to cope with seeing your father die of cancer isn't a good enough reason to take your own life. I don't know -- my father is still alive, so I guess I'm not qualified to say.


On some level any suicide is selfish, I guess, but having lost my mother to cancer last year, I get the logic. Seeing someone you love suffer, day in and day out, knowing there's not a thing you can do to help them is horrible. If there's a worse experience out there, well, I hope I never have to live through it.
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jomiro



Joined: 10 Jan 2010

PostPosted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 7:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i read through a few articles online and was very shocked. it seems as korean actors or the famous in korea choose suicide as their way of killing themselves.

there are drugs available. a few of the very famous actors either are or have been addicts. if you want drugs, youll find them. no question about that.

i can not say anything about it being wrong that they kill themselves. cuz im not the one to judge them, as i didnt know them in person. but the reasons the media is announcing as to why those actors kill themselves, they are rather strange.

- financial crisis
- career crisis
- family problems
- money problems

its sad to see that they kill themselves like we kill mosquitos in the summer. cuz frankly it sets a bad example to the youth of korea. it tells them that if you have a problem, nothing else is better for a solution than killing yourself.
i would even go as far as to say that this is the only time a korea puts their own will ahead of the 'groups will/ benefit'.

as for the japanese. they are even sicker - mentally spoken. the suicide rate there is so high, its really shocking. and its not the actors, its the 'normal' folks that cant stand the pressure they get from their boss, family and friends. i wouldnt want to be japanese or work there.
a good friend of mine is 28 years old, working for a big japanese bank and hes pulling 15 hour days, 6 days a week (sometimes even on sundays) and one week of annual leave. i have the highest of respect for him to be able to maintain a normal life there.
however, he already announced that he wants to quit his job by next year and take some time off to relax and travel.

go figure. you hardly hear anything like that coming from your western friends, do you?
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bish



Joined: 09 Jun 2007

PostPosted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 9:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Why does it have to always be the ones I don't know about?

Sad
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cj1976



Joined: 26 Oct 2005

PostPosted: Tue Jul 06, 2010 3:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was surprised to see this make the BBC news website. I'm fairly certain that at least 99% of the UK population have never heard of this fella, or any other Korean celebrities except Park Ji Sung and Kim Jong Il.
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Louis VI



Joined: 05 Jul 2010
Location: In my Kingdom

PostPosted: Tue Jul 06, 2010 3:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good riddance. No pity for the rich and famous who can't handle their success. The world is full of people struggling to survive. To see such waste is disgusting.

jvalmer wrote:
Is it really that surprising? In Hollywood many actors OD, go on drinking binges, or steal.

Yes, strangling yourself to death with wires is the same thing as stealing a pair of Gucci sunglasses. Same-same.
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Missihippi



Joined: 22 Oct 2007
Location: Gwangmyeong

PostPosted: Tue Jul 06, 2010 4:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Saw this link today about the high rate of Korean celebrity suicides:

http://www.theyeogiyo.com/News/Articles/2010-2/07/06/Why-Do-So-Many-Korean-Celebrities-Kill-Themselves.php
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Underwaterbob



Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Location: In Cognito

PostPosted: Tue Jul 06, 2010 4:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

jomiro wrote:
i read through a few articles online and was very shocked. it seems as korean actors or the famous in korea choose suicide as their way of killing themselves.


That would be the definition. Laughing

jomiro wrote:
as for the japanese. they are even sicker - mentally spoken. the suicide rate there is so high, its really shocking.


The suicide rates are pretty comparable. It's not just celebrities killing themselves in Korea. The suicide rate is actually higher for females in Korea.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_OECD_countries_by_suicide_rate


Last edited by Underwaterbob on Tue Jul 06, 2010 4:07 pm; edited 2 times in total
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cj1976



Joined: 26 Oct 2005

PostPosted: Tue Jul 06, 2010 4:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This might sound flippant, but if these celebs grew a backbone and said "Screw you, I don't care what you say" to their critics, it might inspire a lot of other Koreans to follow suit.
It just seems so weak to kill yourself because of how others perceive you.
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The Gipkik



Joined: 30 Mar 2009

PostPosted: Tue Jul 06, 2010 6:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

shinramyun wrote:
cj1976 wrote:
A high suicide rate is a fairly good indicator of how crap a country is. Koreans, please take note.

Then japan also is a sh*t country.


Actually, it is. For the Japanese. The number of times a Japanese student has told me why they liked traveling overseas--because I feel free--is mind boggling. Prison Japan. I don't know about Prison Korea, though. I never get the same response about leaving Korea for some reason. The social pressures here are intense, but at least the Koreans can flip out in public without the same degree of shame as in Japan. The formula suicide equals mental illness is persuasive, but probably much too simple to do the problem justice.
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Underwaterbob



Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Location: In Cognito

PostPosted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 3:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hmm. On a bit of side note:

Today I had two of my students in my classroom after their big English exams today and they were both completely devastated, ranting and crying over their grades: 87% and 93%. Apparently those grades aren't good enough to get into the high school (!!!) they want.

After looking over the test with them, I agree that at least one of the questions was completely ambiguous, and the others, while at least had a clear answer, were more of a trick rather than a test their knowledge of English. It is my opinion that these students got some of these questions wrong because their English is actually better than that of their teachers.

What can they do about it? Nothing. The teacher is always correct in the Korean school system. I may have managed to get them credit for the one question that was completely ridiculous since the vast majority of students got it "incorrect".

Anyhow, if their entire future hinges on 2 or 3 ambiguous questions on a 30 question multiple choice exam taken in bloody middle school, no wonder there's such a problem with suicide.
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languistic



Joined: 25 Nov 2009

PostPosted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 4:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Too bad these things weren't chain reactions. One guy gets bummed, kills himself and then his now-depressed friend does likewise, and soon, like a viral fad on facebook, all friends lists are suddenly exhausted.
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