Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Real Reality]

Suicides Hit Record High
The number of suicides rose to an all-time high of 12,000 last year as more people took their own lives amid the prolonged economic hardship. South Korea continued to show the one of the highest suicide rates among the member countries of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) over the past few years.

In 2003, the suicidal death rate, the number of suicides per 100,000 people, was 24 for South Korea, the highest among OECD countries. "... The country is expected to stay on the top of the list for a while," an NSO official said.

Hungary came in second with 22.6 followed by Japan with 19.1 and Finland with 18.4.
By Lee Hyo-sik, Korea Times (September 28, 2005)
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200509/kt2005092817232510230.htm


http://photo.hankooki.com/gisaphoto/20050928/kt2200509281724350su.jpg

[rapier]

When success is measured only and purely in monetary terms, and society has a most intrusive and judgemental eye on "failure", then its in no way surprising that sicide ranks highly.

Cancer: i presume that is lung cancer?

[ladyandthetramp]

[Sliver]

No not ecenomic hardship.......that's not the reason......

CULT I tell you!!!!!!!!

[AdamH]

I'm surprised there isn't a category specifically for "Online gaming related"...maybe in a few years.

I've known several people who died of cancer, but none of them was lung cancer...sorry Rapier.

[matthews_world]

I heard there was a suicide on a subway track somewhere in Korea this week.

[periwinkle]

Also not surprising because of the attitudes towards mental health here. People seem to be in denial if they have some kind of disorder, and they are shamed by society. Insurance doesn't even cover the cost of meds for people suffering from some diseases such as depression. My first year in Korea, I started to have terrible, terrible anxiety (damned horrible hakwon). My doctor was extremely reluctant to prescribe me anything, and he seemed very suspicious of me, like I was a druggie or something. I felt humiliated, and I practically had to beg to get him to help me. In the end, my father, a doctor, sent me a prescription from back home. The doctor here, at the very least, should have referred me to a mental health specialist. God, it was an ordeal.

[komtengi]

it was on the news that they are now number 1 in suicides... I believe worldwide. at least they're number 1 in something

[Flossie]

RR: Can you dig up some facts on the cancer stuff?

I'm curious about what are the leading causes of cancer, too, particularly compared to other OECD countries. I've looked on the OECD website a couple of times and not had much luck in comparing between other countries.

I wouldn't be surprised if they ranked #1 for stomach and lung cancers too.

[Real Reality]

A total of 320,000 cancer patients are treated in Korea every year.
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200506/27/200506272230539039900090409041.html

Today, 620,000 Koreans are suffering from the effects of stroke, Alzheimer's or other terminal illnesses that require professional medical services and long-term nursing care. Because of limited facilities, just 6 percent of these seriously ill people have the benefit of special care provided by nursing homes. In Britain or Germany 20 percent of the seriously ill receive state-paid care.
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200412/06/200412062243026579900090409041.html

A raised intake of salty foods is associated with an increased risk of stomach cancer. Also, diets containing smoked/cured meat or fish and pickled foods are associated with increased risk. The diet in Japan and Korea contains a lot of these types of food and these countries have the highest rates of stomach cancer in the world. Smoking also raises the risk.

Regrettably, most patients present with advanced disease and survival is correspondingly low, at 13-15%. There are over 6,000 deaths from stomach cancer each year.

Worldwide stomach cancer is the fourth most frequent cancer, with around 934,000 new cases occurring annually.

The highest incidence rates in the world are found in Japan and Korea and the highest rates in Europe are in Portugal, Italy and Spain.
http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/types/stomach/?a=5441

Cancer Worldwide, Information Resource Centre
http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/geographic/world/
PDF file showing Cancer Incidence Worldwide
http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/images/pdfs/cs_world_map.pdf


Global cancer rates could increase by 50% to 15 million by 2020
In populations that still prefer salty food, e.g. Portugal and Brazil (salted cod, bacalao), Japan and Korea (salted pickles and salad), stomach cancer rates are still high...
Cancer by the Numbers
Lung cancer is the most common cancer worldwide, accounting for 1.2 million new cases annually; followed by cancer of the breast, just over 1 million cases; colorectal, 940,000; stomach, 870,000; liver, 560,000; cervical, 470,000; esophageal, 410,000; head and neck, 390,000; bladder, 330,000; malignant non-Hodgkin lymphomas, 290,000; leukemia, 250,000; prostate and testicular, 250,000; pancreatic, 216,000; ovarian, 190,000; kidney, 190,000; endometrial, 188,000; nervous system, 175,000; melanoma, 133,000; thyroid, 123,000; pharynx, 65,000; and Hodgkin disease, 62,000 cases.
World Health Organization
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2003/pr27/en/

Lung Cancer Deaths Increase in Korea
��Lung cancer emerged as No. 1 among different types of cancer deaths because it is hard to detect in its early stages,'' an NSO official said. He added that the sudden rise in deaths from lung cancer was also attributed to the aging population and worsening air pollution combined with smoking.
http://www.no-smoking.org/oct01/10-01-01-1.html

[Flossie]

Wow RR, you're a legend!! Thanks.

I really like this quote from one of the websites you posted regarding lung cancer in Korea:

[Homer]

You forgot to add " Reading RR's constant barrage of negativity" as a reason for people taking their lives...

[jaganath69]

[Homer]

oh jaganath....you funny little sock you....that was almost a clever retort.

Nice try...you get a gold star for your effort.


Keep it up.

[jaganath69]