South Korea seeks to curb rising suicide rate

SEOUL, Feb 20 (Reuters) South Korea may make farm chemicals less toxic and install more fences on the tops of tall buildings in order to cut down on one of the developed world's highest suicide rates, a health official said today.

Having seen its suicide rate double in less than a decade, the country will also set up more counselling centres and try to increase awareness of the risks of depression, which are not widely understood in the country, the official said.

''Also as a part of the campaign, we want to remove harmful Internet sites (that may encourage suicide) as well increase the number of our cyber counselling sites for young people, who favour this type of service,'' said ministry official Kim Gwon-chul.

In 2004, 24.2 South Korean per 100,000 citizens killed themselves, making suicide the fourth leading cause of death in the country, ahead of traffic accidents. There were 12,047 deaths by suicide in 2005.

South Korea's suicide rate is higher than Japan's and about double that in Canada, Norway or the United States, the government said.

One reason behind the increase in suicides may be a widening gap between the haves and the have-nots in South Korea, with poorer citizens more likely to kill themselves than the affluent, according to government data.

REUTERS MS PM1428