The anti-suicide slogans were first inscribed on the bridge in 2012 as part of the ‘Bridge of Life’ campaign launched by the city and Samsung Life Insurance Co. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Slogans printed on the guardrail that runs along the pedestrian walkway at Seoul’s Mapo Bridge to help people think twice about committing suicide have all been taken down, seven years after they were originally installed.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on Tuesday that all of the slogans inscribed on the guardrail at Mapo Bridge were removed on October 8 and 9.
The anti-suicide slogans were first inscribed on the bridge in 2012 as part of the ‘Bridge of Life’ campaign launched by the city and Samsung Life Insurance Co.
In 2013, slogans selected from a city-wide competition were inscribed on the bridge, illuminated with LED lights so that they could be seen at night.
The effectiveness of the slogans to prevent suicide soon came into question, however, which led to the shutdown of the campaign in late 2015. The lights were also removed, but some of the slogans remained on the bridge.
The remaining slogans were a constant controversy, since they did not seem to address suicide prevention at all.
“A new fence was installed in December 2016 to prevent people from jumping off the bridge, which has further deprived the slogans of any use. In many cases, the remaining slogans only seemed to confuse people,” said a city official.
Between 2014 and 2018, the Mapo Bridge was the site of the most suicide attempts and deaths among all bridges across the Han River, according to a National Fire Agency report submitted to the National Assembly,
A total of 846 people jumped off the bridge, with 24 people killed, during this period.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
