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| Courtesy of Koen Jacobs |
By David A. Tizzard
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Are Kim Jong-un and Pyongyang really an existential threat today though? Norm Macdonald got it right when he said no one really wakes up in the middle of the night clutching their blanket in a cold sweat worrying about North Korea. Perhaps John Bolton does, but the less said about him the better.
And despite all of this, the digital emotion machine has been pushed forward by op-eds, memes and the blue-ticked crew sharing the exact same pictures and data demanding our attention. Sadly, we don't have nearly as many questioning whether we should be worried by these developments. Nor are people addressing the psychological effects of looking at these murder weapons all day. And while all this fills the news and headspaces, World Suicide Prevention Day sneaks past us almost apologetically: "Sorry for interrupting your missile talk. People are dying here but we promise not to make too much fuss," it says.
A septuplet of Korean lads dancing to an Ed Sheeran song is front page news. Lisa getting 90 million views in a few days gets an "URGENT" headline on news outlets' Twitter. The government declaring a new K brand for its "world-beating response to the COVID pandemic" dominates television while the next story reminds us that we should definitely NOT travel during Chuseok. But that South Korea has the highest suicide rate among all members of the OECD in 2021, with its heartbreaking figures of 24.7 deaths per 100,000 being more than double the OECD average, is generally known but not spoken about. When interviewed recently for a government-funded documentary, I was politely asked not to mention the country's devastating statistics or address that particular issue. "Only beautiful, please."
In the domestic news, suicide is referred to euphemistically as an "extreme choice." This linguistic trick is an example of how the country won't really face up to the severity and reality of what's going on. For many, the concept is still taboo. Occasionally celebrities commit suicide and everyone grieves for a few days and says how awesome they were before moving on to the next story.
When discussing all of this with Rah Seung-yun, free from government restraints, some of the public responses to our conversation were incredibly sad. One citizen took the time to tell us, "As someone who went through severe depression before, I don't think it's a good idea to share what you're suffering from with others. Especially in Korea. It's most likely to affect your life in a negative way and that's because of the old public perception. People will judge you and treat you differently."
Suffer in silence. Get through it. Other people won't understand so don't burden them. There's real stuff happening that's more important: you saw the missiles, right?
I'm not sure it's acceptable anymore for the military and governments to keep instilling fear in us and creating division. Not at the expense of citizens' lives. And this leads me to wonder what would happen if a politician ran on a platform that focused on the mental health and well-being of the people? What if someone stood up, renounced missiles, and instead championed happiness and mental health awareness? Would they be called crazy?
In a weird and twisted way, yes. Probably.
Dr. David A. Tizzard (datizzard@swu.ac.kr) has a Ph.D. in Korean Studies. He is a social/cultural commentator and musician who has lived in Korea for nearly two decades. The views expressed in the article are the author's own and do not reflect the editorial direction of The Korea Times.
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