Young South Korean women are turning to suicide in ever greater numbers. Covid-19 is just the start of their problems
- Suicides among Korean women in their 20s have jumped by more than 40 per cent, yet rates for male deaths are in decline
- While the coronavirus has amplified the problems faced by this group, experts saying there are deeper forces at work
When Jin-ah quit her job as a hotel cook she had hoped for relief from the bullying and sexual discrimination that was making her life a misery. But having nothing to do only made her inner demons louder, so she tried to hang herself with the cord of her hair dryer.
Jin-ah, 31, did not succeed. Deep within, a survival instinct stirred and she stopped herself before it was too late.
Since that day a few months ago the Jeju Island resident has been trying to understand her motivations for wanting to end her life and the depression that has plagued her for years. She sees a psychiatrist and has joined a college psychology course. On social media, she reaches out to other women who may be struggling with their self-image.
“Women are often judged on their looks on top of their skills, find it harder to be promoted over men and eventually encounter a glass ceiling that brings discouragement and a sense of emptiness,” Jin-ah says.
Left unaddressed, these feelings spiral. “I developed an eating disorder and it became hard for me to control my feelings,” Jin-ah recalls. “Then my 10-year career came to an end and I began to avoid going outside at all if I could.”
Jin-ah is among a growing number of young South Korean women to have contemplated, or succeeded in, taking their own lives. While South Korea has long struggled with high rates of suicide – its figures are twice the OECD average and suicide is the leading cause of death for Koreans in their teens, 20s and 30s – over the past year the problem has spiked among young women while decreasing among men.