Korean Celebrities Taking Their Own Life, What's to Blame?

 Just last night, another Korean celebrity passed away. Apparently, taking his own life. Moonbin was just 25 years old.

I came upon a 2020  article written by a Korean journalist entitled "I have reported on 30 Korean celebrity suicides. The blame game never changes" in The Guardian.

Apparently, Korea has the 4th highest rate of suicides in the world. According to the World Population Review, in 2019, there are 28.6 suicides per 100,000 people in the country. Also, according to post-mortem investigations conducted by Korea Psychological Autopsy Center, mental health problems, family-related and marital issues, workplace problems, and physical health are some of the causes of why suicide is committed. 

The writer started by telling a story about actor Ahn Jae Hwan, who took his life on August 2008. The writer, with actress Choi Jin Sil, went to the hospital where his body was taken, she was in shock and photographers took her photo, and made it into a news item with the caption, Actress in shock at not being able to get the money back from the dead actor. People were looking for someone to blame for the actor's death, and Choi Jin Sil was available for the headline.

Ahn Jae Hwan's funeral (Source)

40 days after Ahn's death, Choi Jin Sil took her own life as well. Her last words were, "As the victim of internet hate I don’t think abusive comments should be allowed. I want to campaign to stop them, retire from entertainment, and do charity work, like Audrey Hepburn. I’m tired of it all.”

Singer Choi Jin-young carries the photo of Choi Jin-Sil, his late elder sister during a funeral ceremony at a Seoul hospital in October 2008 after she killed herself. / Korea Times 

Choi Jin Sil has a younger brother, actor, and singer Choi Jin Young. 2 years after his sister's death, he took his own life. Her ex-husband, former baseball player Choi Seong Min took his own life, too. He had been a target of online hate due to his ex-wife's death.

Choi Jin Young's funeral (Source)

Choi Sung Min (Source)

In 2017, Kim Jonghyun of SHINee took his life at the age of 27. His last messages in Kakao Talk contained the words last goodbye and say I did well.

Jonghyun

And in 2019, celebrities like Jeon Mi Seon, Sulli, Goo Hara, and Cha In Ha all took their own lives  Jeon Mi Seon in June, Sulli in October, Goo Hara in November, and Cha In Ha in December. 

Jeon Mi Seon

Sulli

Goo Hara

Cha In Ha

Just last year, actress Yoo Ju Yeon took her own life.

Yoo Ju Eun's Funeral / Dispatch

There are still so many that I cannot include here. But the question is still why? 

According to the writer of the article, it's hard to explain why. 

We can’t pretend to know each motivation, whether it be money problems, relationships, family issues, declining popularity, online abuse, or any number of other factors. Attempting to explain each death would just encourage the trolls.

South Korea's entertainment industry has to have responsibility for these cases of high-profile celebrity suicides. It treats celebrities as commodities to earn income. Many of these celebrities were trained from childhood and only taught how to sing and dance, not valuable life skills. For female celebrities, it is even worse as the public is more interested in every salacious detail of their lives.

A report from Asia Times says that the entertainment industry in South Korea is harsh with military-like training regimens, and celebrities are required to have a clean image. Fans want dirt and reporters and bloggers provide it. 

The writer also said that we have to understand why people feel a need to write vicious comments online. South Korea's freedom of speech and privacy laws allow commenters to remain anonymous. This fuels them to say horrendous things without anyone knowing their identity

In the Asia Times article, it was said that shame appears to be the key motivating element – both the shame of perpetration and, the shame of victimhood.

Michael Breen, the author of The New Koreans, said,

Korea is more a shame than a guilt culture. In Christian culture, there is that cycle of repentance and forgiveness, and some mercy is built into the legal system, but you don’t have that so much here, so the sense of shame is overwhelming.

And taking one's life is a way of evading humiliation.  

I still wish that cases like this, not just in Korea, but in general, will be given more attention. How it can be prevented. People can be cruel. And we only have to look out for one another. Just be kind.