Civic groups seen as key to solving South Korea's suicide crisis

South Korea's suicide rate, nearly three times the OECD average, demands a community-based response through organizations such as Rotary International, according to a commentary published Tuesday in The Korea Times.

The Korea Times commentary cited 2024 South Korean government data placing the nation's suicide rate at 29.1 per 100,000 — the leading cause of death among South Koreans ages 13 through 49. A 2025 World Health Organization report separately estimates that loneliness contributes to roughly 100 deaths per hour worldwide.

Rotary International, founded in Chicago in 1905 to counter urban isolation, arrived in South Korea in November 1927. According to The Korea Times, the organization now counts more than 64,000 members across the country.

The commentary advocates for what it calls "social prescriptions" — connecting isolated individuals with civic organizations rather than relying solely on clinical intervention. Rotary clubs in Bongdong, North Jeolla Province, and Sokcho, Gangwon Province, have applied this model through youth mental health programs that include scar removal surgeries for self-harm survivors, helping participants, as The Korea Times described it, rewrite their life narratives.

John Hewko, General Secretary and CEO of Rotary International, said the approach hinges on something medicine cannot replicate. "Connection cannot be prescribed like medication," Hewko said, according to The Korea Times. "The act of helping others — of being needed — is one of the most powerful antidotes to despair," he added.

Hewko also addressed South Korea's so-called "Spring Peak," a seasonal spike in suicides, saying collective action can transform the period. "By choosing to intervene in each other's lives, not as a nuisance but as a caring neighbor, we can ensure that the 'Spring Peak' — a yearly surge in suicides — becomes a season of true renewal for everyone," he said.

The Korea Times commentary frames community membership not as a supplement to clinical mental health care, but as a frontline public health tool in a country where suicide has become a leading cause of death across four decades of life.