Suicide rate on the rise in South Korea South Korea may make farm chemicals less toxic and install more fences on the tops of tall buildings in order to cut down on the high suicide rate . Actress Jeong Da-Bin and pop singer Yuni, two high-profile young women with successful careers, were both found hanged in the past few weeks, sparking concern in South Korea, which has the highest suicide rate of all Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) members. Having seen its suicide rate double in less than a decade, the country will also set up more counseling centers and try to increase awareness of the risks of depression, according to a health official. "Also as a part of the campaign, we want to remove harmful Internet sites that may encourage suicide as well increase the number of our cyber counseling sites for young people, who favor this type of service," said ministry official Kim Gwon-chul. In 2004, 24.2 South Korean per 100,000 citizens killed themselves, making suicide the fourth leading cause of death in the country, ahead of traffic accidents. There were 12,047 deaths by suicide in 2005. South Korea's suicide rate is higher than Japan's and about double that in Canada, Norway or the United States, the government said. One reason behind the increase in suicides may be a widening gap between the haves and the have-nots in South Korea, with poorer citizens more likely to kill themselves than the affluent, according to government data. 點擊查看更多雙語新聞 (AP)

韓國可能得降低農藥的毒性、在高樓的頂層多安裝一些圍欄，以減少其高自殺率。 韓國兩位年輕成功女藝人--演員鄭多彬和流行歌手Yuni幾星期前上吊自殺身亡，引起了韓國政府的擔憂。據統計，韓國的自殺率為經合組織成員國中最高。 據一位衛生官員介紹，韓國的自殺率在不到十年的時間里翻了一番，因此韓國政府打算成立更多的咨詢中心，提高人們對抑郁癥風險的認識。 衛生部官員金權澈說："此外，我們打算查封一些誤導人們產生自殺念頭的有害網站，同時增開一些受年輕人歡迎的在線咨詢網站。" 2004年，每10萬個韓國人中有24.2個人自殺，這使自殺超過交通事故，成為韓國的第四大死因。2005年，韓國的自殺死亡人數達到12047人。 據政府統計，韓國的自殺率高于日本，約為加拿大、挪威和美國的兩倍。 據有關數據顯示，韓國自殺率增長的原因之一可能是不斷擴大的貧富差距，較窮的人自殺的可能性要高于較富裕的人。 （ 英語點津姍姍編輯）