South Korea is notorious for its high suicide rate,... and this can be seen once again in a new report.
Korea recorded the highest suicide rate in the OECD in 2016,... more than twice the OECD average.
Our Park Hee-jun has the details.
South Korea has once again been disgraced by being named as the country with the highest suicide rate in the OECD.
According to a report released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the National Health Insurance Service on Monday,... there were 25-point-8 suicides for every 100-thousand people in Korea in 2016,... which is way above the OECD average of 11-point-6.
Latvia and Slovenia had the second highest suicide rate with 18-point-1 suicides,... followed by Japan with 16-point-6.
Turkey had the lowest rate with 2-point-1 suicides.
The Korean National Police Agency says the main cause of suicides in 2016 was psychological illness,... accounting for more than a third of the deaths.
But other significant factors included financial difficulties, physical illnesses, and family problems.
Experts also brought up the high income inequality compared to other developed nations,... and a low level of social integration.
South Korea's suicide rate, however, has been on a steady decline since 2010.
Statistics show that it's been falling after reaching its peak in 2009, right after the global financial crisis.
The government has been working to lower the suicide rate through a range of countermeasures.
Park Hee-jun, Arirang News.