A matter of life and death: a Durkheimian analysis of South Korea’s suicide epidemic

Abstract

Suicide has become a major social and public health issue in South Korea. The country has experienced a threefold increase in the suicide rate since the 1990s and now has the highest rate in the OECD. The contemporary study of suicide is dominated by the medical and behavioural sciences, and the phenomenon is largely framed and understood as an individual-level issue. However, rapid social change in South Korea since the mid-twentieth century suggests that the problem has social origins. Neoliberal structural reforms in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis have transformed South Korean society, resulting in a considerable rise in social inequality. This study adopts a sociological perspective to suicide in South Korea. Following Durkheim’s (1952 [1897]) two-dimensional theoretical framework, the study examines the origins of the present suicide epidemic. The findings suggest that Durkheim’s sociological theory of suicide provides a plausible explanation for the unprecedented increase in South Korea’s suicide rate. The study argues that, in addition to traditional clinical approaches to suicide prevention, a macro-social approach is required to reduce South Korea’s suicide rate over the long term.