A memorial for the late Goo Ha-ra, a K-pop diva and member of girl band KARA, is set up for her fans at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital in Seoul on Nov. 25, 2019, separately from one installed for her bereaved family members at another hospital. She was found dead at her home the previous day, with a high chance of suicide as the cause of death. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — The government has mapped out a suicide prevention plan for pop culture artists as part of efforts to prevent the suicide of famous celebrities as well as copycat suicides.
The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health and Welfare developed the plan after holding a ministerial conference on social relations on Wednesday.
Under this plan, the number of psychological consultations that the Korea Creative Content Agency operates to remove the blind spot in the management of mental health for pop culture artists will be increased from 900 times this year to 1,300 times next year.
Visits will be made to film sets with the risk of creating trauma, while a mobile application-based self-examination service will be offered.
In collaboration with the Korean Neuropsychiatric Association, the ministries will run a clinic where high-risk group can under diagnosis. In addition, they will support low-income artists through an extension of life stability loans.
If suicide or suicide attempts occur, mental health diagnosis and one-on-one consultation services will be offered to entertainment companies to protect those affected by such attempts, including the bereaved family members and managers.
To minimize the Werther Effect, also known as copycat suicide, the government plans to strengthen the monitoring of media reports.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
