Government ministries have begun preparing measures to reduce the number of suicide deaths. The government plans to establish a suicide countermeasure task force under the Suicide Prevention Policy Committee within this year, which will handle practical enforcement functions and regularly review the progress of related agencies.
The Office for Government Policy Coordination held a meeting of ministries related to suicide prevention measures at Government Complex Seoul on the 3rd and reviewed the status and plans for measures by ministry.
The government has recognized the reduction of suicide deaths as a policy task and released the National Suicide Prevention Strategy at the Suicide Prevention Policy Committee under the prime minister in Sep.
Through the meeting, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said it revised the Act on the Prevention of Suicide and the Creation of a Culture that Respects Life to require information and communications service providers to take measures to prevent the distribution of suicide-inducing information. The ministry plans to prepare subordinate statutes under the Suicide Prevention Act in the first half of next year and to revise the suicide reporting guidelines and the guidelines on suicide scenes in video content to enhance media accountability.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said it is working with a media self-regulatory body to encourage voluntary participation from the press and to promote education on ethics in suicide reporting and news gathering. Currently, penalties for violations of reporting ethics are limited to one-off measures such as cautions and warnings, but if violations are serious or repeated, sanctions will be strengthened step by step.
The Korea Media and Communications Commission decided to include suicide-inducing information in the items subject to written review by the Broadcasting Media Communications Review Committee. It also plans to streamline procedures so it can directly request corrective action from information and communications service providers.
The Korean National Police Agency said it is using Netizens Cops (civilian–police cooperation) to search for harmful suicide information online and request deletion and blocking from the broadcasting and media communications commission. Going forward, it said it will link data from the 112 reporting system and the next-generation social security information system to strengthen responses to suicide attempters. It also plans to expand focused reporting activities on suicide-inducing information.
The Ministry of Education will conduct psychological autopsies starting next year to identify the causes of student suicides. To systematically support students' mental health, it is promoting the enactment of the Student Mental Health Support Act and will expand social-emotional education and lead teachers in schools.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety will expand dedicated suicide prevention organizations and personnel within local governments and support the designation of suicide prevention officers to ensure swift execution of on-site suicide prevention measures. It also plans to improve joint evaluation indicators related to suicide prevention for local governments to encourage their efforts.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) is pushing a special inspection of business sites where an employee died due to workplace harassment. It will connect those at high risk of suicide with psychological counseling at suicide prevention centers and expand equal employment counseling offices to prevent gender discrimination in employment and workplace sexual harassment. It also decided to expand Middle-aged and Senior Tomorrow Centers to support a fresh start for middle-aged job seekers.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family will expand operations of support services for vulnerable and crisis families. It will work to strengthen the functions of Youth Counseling 1388 and increase dedicated personnel for focused counseling and intervention for youths at risk of suicide or self-harm at youth counseling and welfare centers.
The Financial Services Commission will prepare reporting guidelines within the year to prevent secondary harm from media reports related to illegal private finance and victims. It also plans to establish an operating plan for Finance Counseling for All so vulnerable youths and others can receive in-depth financial counseling.
The government will establish the suicide countermeasure task force within the year to review the progress of related agencies. It decided to strengthen a pan-government response, including overhauling related systems, to swiftly deliver results.
Yun Chang-ryeol, Minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, said, "The suicide crisis is difficult to resolve because economic, social, and relational factors are intricately intertwined," and added, "Based on analysis of suicide statistics, we must focus on identifying and responding to high-risk groups and deliver results through cooperation among related agencies."