President Lee Jae-myung directed his aides on the 21st to establish a pan-governmental task force for 'suicide prevention.' The plan includes providing treatment costs for high-risk groups such as those with depression and creating a system where the government can intervene immediately in extreme situations.
On that day, President Lee presided over a meeting with senior secretaries and advisors at the Presidential Office and stated, 'Suicide must be viewed as a social disaster, and we need to completely change the policy paradigm.' He also called for the establishment of a dedicated agency encompassing multiple ministries. Furthermore, he remarked, 'Discussing low birthrate measures while neglecting citizens driven to suicide is a blatant contradiction and a dereliction of responsibility by the state,' adding, 'Create a pan-governmental task force to drastically reduce extreme choices.'
According to Lee Gyu-yeon, head of public relations at the Presidential Office, President Lee has instructed each ministry to actively utilize AI (artificial intelligence) technology for suicide prevention. Specifically, he has called for devising ways to swiftly detect 'suicidal risk signs' identified in online posts and respond accordingly. This includes increasing budgets and personnel, as well as finding ways to filter online writings that encourage extreme choices using AI.
The suicide rate in Korea has been steadily rising, with 25.1 per 100,000 population in 2022, 27.3 in 2023, and 28.3 last year. This is more than double the average suicide rate of 10.7 among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries in 2022. President Lee stated, 'While major countries are showing a downward trend in suicide rates, Korea has been wearing the stigma of being No. 1 in OECD suicide rates for over 20 years.'