Korea is Number 1 ... At Killing Themselves

It seems these stories are never out of the papers for too long. And this time, I can't think of a notable celebrity who killed themselves to prompt it.

According to the National Police Agency, Koreans were killing themselves at a rate of 40 per day in 2009.

From the story:

'By age group, those aged 60 and above comprised 4,614 or 32 percent of the total suicides ― indicating that more senior citizens are at risk ― followed by people in their 40s at 2,770 or 19 percent.

Though people in their 20s made up only 12 percent at 1,749, this represented a jump of 29 percent from 2008, and 35 percent over the last three years.

Around 28 percent of suicides took their own lives due to psychological problems, followed by 22 percent because of physical illness. Economic, domestic and love issues were next in the top five reasons.

"Statistics show suicides are rising sharply nationwide, though it's hard to pinpoint a single reason for the increase. Society as a whole should make greater efforts to stop people killing themselves," a police officer said.'

The story came out and said South Korea is ranked number one among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Usually, stories in Korean newspapers peg the country at 2 or 3 with a Scandinavian country up at the top. But this time, Korea takes the top spot.