Anti-suicide guards planned for subways, bridges

Jon · Korean Citizen Joined: Mar 19, 2004 Posts: 525

From early July, you might hear comforting classical music like Beethoven's "Fur Elise" in a subway station. Similar tunes might relieve daily stress, gloomy thoughts and even stop people from jumping in front of running subway trains.
At least, that's the official thinking. In conjunction with "suicide prevention music," authorities have come up with every possible way to prevent suicide attempts in subway stations and from bridges.

The number of people who jumped in front of subway cars has increased since 2001 from 13 to 27, ending in the victim's death in most cases, according to the Korean National Railroad.

The Ministry of Construction and Transportation is setting up screen doors that open only when the subway train arrives at the platform. A heavy investment of 2.5 billion won for each station will slow down the project, with the government installing 10 screen doors each year.

Emergency buttons are expected to be installed by next year on subway station walls. If a person appears on the verge of jumping into the path of a subwy train, passengers and subway officials can push a button on the wall that can bring the train to a full stop.

The KNR is also educating railroad workers on how to detect suicidal tendencies based on a person's behavior or facial expressions. Passengers will also see posters and LCD monitors that try to discourage people in despair and provide a help center phone number.

Police stations near bridges are also working on anti-suicide precautions. Since several high-profile people have recently committed suicide by leaping off bridges, experts say a bridge is more likely to pop into the mind of a desperate person as a place to end their life.

As of June 14, some 61 people had attempted suicide this year near eight bridges that are under the surveillance of the Yongsan Police Station. This is approaching last year's record, when 83 people jumped, according to the Yongsan Police Office.

The Han River Bridge is the most favored spot because its arch-shaped structures make it easier to climb. After some suicide threats, the city government set up barriers that prevent anyone from climbing up the bridge. This, however, cannot prevent people from jumping from the road portion of the bridge.

The Banpo Bridge is emerging as a frequent suicide area. On June 13, Vision Food president Shin Young-moon jumped to his death from the bridge over a "garbage dumpling" scandal. Politicians have also jumped from the bridge, including South Jeolla Province Gov. Park Tae-young and Paju Mayor Lee Joon-won.

"Across the Banpo Bridge, there is a 'law town' where the Supreme Court, Supreme Public Prosecutors' office and lawyers' offices are clustered. Crossing the bridge, they might have felt more pressure and stress than anywhere else," said an officer who patrols the bridge.

Yongsan Police Station's watch on the bridge is now on high alert, allocating four policemen to each bridge - Banpo, Hannam, Hangang - from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and from 8 p.m. to midnight, the hours when most suicide attempts occur.

These preventive methods are viewed as last-resort plans to patrol and discourage jumpers. So far they have not helped Korea emerge from its fourth place ranking in suicide rates among OECD countries and the highest growth rate recently.

"Those measures could discourage suicide attempts to some extent. On top of that, cures (for depression) and family guidance are necessary to prevent suicide," said Lee Hong-sik, psychiatric professor at Yonsei University.

The death of the president of Vision Food showed up a loophole in the government's suicide prevention measures. On Sunday Shin jumped off the bridge where officers were supposed to be patrolling. But at the time, 8:50 p.m., no one was stationed there because the policemen were needed for duty at two big rallies in downtown Seoul. "The intensive surveillance is not enough to deter suicide; one can commit suicide in a wink," said an official from the Yongsan Police Station. "Besides, the police do not have enough people to cover the 24 bridges in Seoul."

(hjjin@heraldm.com)

By Jin Hyun-joo