Facing challenges

According to the city government, Seoul recorded its highest suicide rate last year since 2015: 23.2 per 100,000 residents.

"Recent findings show that one in two Seoul residents consider themselves psychologically troubled, while the proportion of people who have experienced feelings of depression also rose by 1.9 percentage points to 8.5 percent over the last five years," Kim from the citizens' health bureau said.

The city government added that Seoul's suicide rate was also 1.8 times higher than South Korea's as a whole when age standardization according to the OECD was applied.

Under the newly proposed plans, the city government plans to increase the number of personnel at its 24-hour call center to help individuals struggling with suicidal impulses. According to Kim, there are currently 12 employed at the call center, and the city government aims to increase the number to 30 by 2026.

Besides the call center, the city government also proposed to add another counseling channel through major messaging apps.

The city government will similarly provide subsidies for those who wish to receive professional psychological counseling services privately, with a subsidy of up to 80,000 won ($58) per session over an eight-week period. Starting with 20,000 people this year, the authorities aim to increase these numbers every year, to subsidize a total of 100,000 people by 2027.

By 2026, the city government aims to establish city government-run counseling centers in the 27 districts in Seoul, though such counseling services will not be available in English.

At the district-run counseling centers, mental health specialists and psychologists will provide initial mental health consultations and refer individuals to private psychological institutions if necessary.

The city government added that it will launch a community-based program that assigns community leaders, neighborhood doctors and store owners to identify individuals at high risk of suicide and refer them to counseling services for assistance. The program will mostly be focused on parts of the city with a high suicide rate, as well as those concentrated with single-person households and areas with a high rate of alcoholism.

Similarly, an overseeing committee for suicide prevention policies will be introduced. According to Kim, the committee will work to "more closely analyze suicide-related statistics and conduct psychological autopsy for suicides".

The committee will also work to develop a suicide prevention manual to help the city government identify suicidal individuals.

THE KOREA HERALD, SOUTH KOREA