Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Guri Guy]

http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/1791/Suicide_battle.html

Korea has the fourth highest rate of suicides among OECD countries.(Highest for females) If I am not mistaken, all of these countries are from the Ural-Altaic language family. Korean, Japanese, Finnish and Hungarian. Is this a coincidence?
Turkey is also a member of the Ural-Altaic language family but I couldn't find statistics on their suicide rate. I am just curious if anyone has any thoughts on this. I find the study of linguistics fascinating myself.
I find the subject very depressing and I do not wish to have this seen as "Korean bashing" as suicide is a serious issue the world over.

Suicide Rate Grows Fastest in OECD


By Soh Ji-young
Staff Reporter


The country�s suicide rate has climbed the fastest among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in the last ten years, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said on Friday.


According to OECD health statistics, 18.1 out of every 100,000 Koreans committed suicide in 2002, marking the fourth highest suicide rate among 29 OECD nations. Turkey was excluded in the survey.

Hungary topped the list with a suicide rate of 24.3, followed by Finland with 20.4 and Japan with 20.0, ministry officials said.

When comparing suicide growth rates, South Korea�s rate rose an average of 1 percent annually over the past 10 years, well surpassing Mexico's growth rate of 0.61 percent and Japan's 0.44 percent.

Only seven OECD nations showed increases in suicide rates, while 22 marked decreases. Denmark saw its suicide rate decline by an average of 1.06 percent during the past decade, followed by Hungary with 0.98 percent, Finland with 0.74 percent and Switzerland with 0.47 percent.

In Greece, only 3.1 out of 100,000 committed suicide, marking the lowest in the survey, while other Mediterranean countries also recorded low rates _ Portugal with 4.2, Italy with 5.7 and Spain with 6.7.

The country�s rising suicide rates is a stark contrast to some 20 years ago in 1982, when the suicide rate was relatively low at 6.8 per 100,000 people.

``Korea�s suicide rate has significantly jumped in the last twenty years, as more people are facing mounting social problems, such as the economic downturn and high unemployment,��
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200406/kt2004060414532510220.htm

[SuperFly]

That's coz us Greeks love life!

OPA!

*breaks a few plates and hauls his woman to the bedroom over his shoulders*

[Guri Guy]

Agreed. Apparently the Greeks zest for life is unmatched.