Central, local governments and private groups unite on suicide prevention

The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Foundation for Suicide Prevention held a joint public-private suicide prevention strategy meeting at the Yangcheon-gu office in Seoul on Monday.

The meeting brought together central and local governments, private institutions and community organizations to discuss and develop locally tailored suicide prevention measures.

Participating organizations shared the current state of local suicide prevention efforts and identified specific activities each would carry out based on their respective roles. The results will be compiled into a unified community suicide prevention action plan.

The ministry and the foundation expanded the joint public-private suicide prevention strategy meetings from once a month to four times a month starting in July 2025, in line with the 2025 National Suicide Prevention Strategy established last year.

A preliminary analysis compared monthly suicide death figures before and after joint action plans were implemented across participating cities, counties and districts. It found an approximately 49.6 percent decrease — from an average of about 11.5 deaths per month before the plans were in place to about 5.8 deaths three months after implementation.

Data released by the Ministry of Statistics on June 24 showed that the number of suicide deaths in April 2026 stood at 1,061 (provisional figure), down 15.7 percent from the same month a year earlier. Suicide deaths have declined continuously since October 2025, falling an average of 10.9 percent year-on-year through April 2026.

"Suicide cannot be addressed by any single agency alone — the entire community, including health, welfare, education and police, must be closely connected in its response," Health and Welfare Minister Jeong Eun-kyeong said. "The government will spare no effort to consolidate and strengthen the current downward trend in suicide deaths, and will provide full institutional support and cooperation so that communities can function effectively on the front lines of suicide prevention."

If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of self-harm or suicide, contact the suicide prevention hotline at 109 or reach out through the suicide prevention SNS counseling service "Madeuran," both available 24 hours a day.