Thoughts on China's military extravaganza

I do not think Chinese military parade this time was a good decision for them. First of all, there are tons of people suffering from hunger and low quality of life due to huge income gap in China. Thus, the priority should be to take care of them and expand welfare budget not the one for military extravaganza.  Second, it would evoke a fierce arms race. The parade was apparently to brag about their military power to all countries by  showing off all kinds of weapons. It possibly would make other countries feel intimidated and strenghten military build-up. To sum up, The Chinese movement, which showed off their military power by causing inconvenience to its citizens and poured massive national budget, is not reasonable. Nobody know that it would trigger increased arms race.

Thoghts on refugees

 Fisrt of all, I feel really sorry about the refugees and the whole mess and chaos happening right now in the faraway lands. However, for me how the European countries cope with the refugees seems quite rigid. For sure nobody knows when the chaos would end, but it will end anyway in the future. Do we have to pay all the money and efforts into bringing them into their countries, which might cause much more problems and division domestically and internationally? I believe the first thing we should do must be to supress those who are evoking all the problems. With that money and political will put in the refugge accepting policy, we can eliminate the trouble makers. For the sake of the refugees, it is better to give them freedom and lives that they used to have in their own country. Many chllenges would rise in front of them when they imigrate into other countries such as  discrimanation, language problem, financial strait, and others. For the refugee accepting countries, there would be various issues to wrestle with, particuraly limited budget and steep tax for the citizens. Therefor, I bielive we must seek for other way.

(Editorial) Highest suicide rate

[Editorial] Highest suicide rate

The latest OECD Health Statistics held dismal news for Korea. The country’s suicide rate stood at the top among the 25 of the 34 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member states for which figures were available.

The average suicide rate among the 25 countries stood at 11.9 persons per 100,000. At 29.1 persons per 100, 000, the suicide rate in Korea was more than double the average OECD figure for 2012. In fact, the country has topped the list since 2003 when the suicide rate reached 28.1 persons per 100,000, peaking at 33.8 in 2009.

Korea’s suicide rate first spiked in 1998 when it reached 21.7 persons per 100,000, as the country struggled with the Asian financial crisis of 1997. In 1995, the suicide rate had stood at 12.7 persons per 100,000, about the OECD average.

It is easy to blame the still high suicide rate on the continued aftermath of the financial crisis. However, economic difficulties alone do not sufficiently explain the high rate of suicide -- there are countries with lower gross domestic products that have much lower suicide rates. Nor can the phenomenon be dismissed as a matter of personal problems, attributing the high suicide rate to the prevalence of untreated depression.

Perhaps an explanation for the high rate of suicide can be found in the contradictions of Korean society. Despite its phenomenal economic development in the last 60 years or so, Korea suffers from a growing income gap and social immobility.

The worsening income disparity means a greater sense of alienation and comparative sense of loss. In a close-knit society such as Korea, such disparity is felt with great immediacy. This year’s biennial OECD report on well-being shows Korea ranking nearly at the bottom in health status, work-life balance and subjective assessment of well-being categories.

Korea also scores at the top when it comes to elderly poverty. The youth happiness index, on the other hand, ranks at the bottom. Not surprisingly, Korea ranked at the top for suicide rate among the elderly population in OECD countries. Meanwhile, suicide is the No. 1 cause of death among young adults here.

Overall, it appears that Korea as a nation is not a happy one.

Ultimately, people’s quality of life must be improved to create a happier nation. In the meantime, the government should focus on preventing suicides. Japan, which had similarly suffered from a high suicide rate, turned the tide in 2010 through active government intervention. It passed a law on suicide prevention in 2006 and spends 300 billion won ($255 million) a year toward that end. Japan’s suicide rate in this year’s OECD report stands at 18.7 persons per 100,000.

The Korean government instituted the first five-year plan for suicide prevention in 2004 but has not implemented a new plan since the second five-year plan expired in 2013. The annual budget for suicide prevention stands at a mere 8 billion won. There is much room for improvement in the government’s efforts to prevent suicide.

* This article intrigued me because....

Korea has surprisingly advanced in just six decades in various areas including economy. Sense of ethics and life standard, however, seem to have not caught it up yet. There continuously have been many compelling issues such as unemployment, income disparity and many others. In particular, suicide is the case in point. I have been interested in this issue because suicide might be the problem that my friends, families or I could face in the future. And what is interesting about this article is that it sheds new lights on the cause of high suicide rate in Korea other than financial aspect.

 

Q1. Why do you think many Korean youth commit a suicide?

Q2. Have you ever considered killing yourself? If so, why?

Q3. We have seen many Korean celebrities kill themselves. Why do you think they kill themselves? Which case was the most striking to you? Why?