Seoul: The government of South Korea has unveiled a plan to help prevent celebrity suicides and the copycat deaths of fans, reports Variety.com.
The government announced the plan on Friday. Days before, the ministries of education and health and welfare had held a joint meeting about the problem.
South Korea is currently enjoying the global success of K-pop, television drama series, and feature films. But a high-pressure system is driving the industry. The failure rate is high, and with success comes intense online scrutiny.
Nonetheless, in recent years, several Korean celebrities and media personalities have taken their own lives. Depression, guilt, shame and cyber-bullying are among the possible reasons. And the death by suicide of Jonghyun, a member of K-pop boyband SHINee, was prominent in 2018. But, in 2019, the suicides of performers Sulli and Goo Hara sent further shockwaves through the entertainment industry. This raised questions regarding the mental health concerns involving K-pop stars.
Therefore, the updated suicide prevention plan aims to eliminate blind spots in the mental health management of Korean celebrities and artistes by agents and managers. It increases the number of psychological consultations carried out by the Korean Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) from 900 this year to 1,300 in 2022. The country’s mental health service will send its ‘Heart Relief Bus’ to visit more film sets. Financial aid and treatment expenses will be extended to entertainers with unstable income.
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