Copycat Suicide
And so the WERTHER effect holds up in South Korea. COPYCAT SUICIDE that is.
It even sounds a little weird to hear for the first time. I mean, why would suicide be worth-emulating in the first place?
This well-known type of suicide serves as a model, in the absence of protective factors, for the next suicide. It occasionally spreads through a school system, through a community, or in terms of a celebrity suicide wave, nationally.
The massive wave of emulation suicides after a widely publicized suicide is known as the Werther effect, following the Werther novel of Goethe. To prevent this type of suicide, it is customary in some countries for the media to discourage suicide reports except in special cases.
Yet in South Korea, it’s seems to be the staple dish served by its journalists, whenever possible.
If not, I wouldn’t have quickly read about the suicide of well-known actor and singer, Park Yon Ha. He is the first Hallyu actor to kill himself after a series of celebrity suicides by females in South Korea in recent years. I personally feel sad because I have been a fan of him since the successful debut of Winter Sonata, where he was a part of. He also starred in another Korean drama in the Philippines called "Loving You", and I completed the whole series as well.
According to reports, the probable main cause of his death was stress-- stress from his newly-built, yet losing business and his father's health. His father is currently suffering from stomach cancer, that he couldn't bear the thought of losing him. As mentioned in reports, the actor used an electrical cord to hang himself dead.
The suicide rate in South Korea has long alarmed the world, and while so much praise can be said about the country's progress, it somehow makes me think if it's the price that people have to pay for such easier life. Celebrities have all the money in the world, which society has commonly equated to an easier pursuit of happiness. But I guess, it doesn't seem to always fit that way.
This is really sad. South Koreans are all obsessed with how they physically look... the weight, the skin, the eyes... yet they don't know how to give importance to their mental health.
