In a report released this week by the Jeju Central Fire Department, of the 2,096 people who were killed in accidents over the last five years on the island, the No. 1 reason was suicide.

According to the report, 747 (35.6 percent) took their own lives, while traffic accidents resulted in 540 fatalities (25.8 percent) and falls (5.6 percent) killed 117.

The comparable national suicide rate is lower, at 31 percent.

The Fire Department report went on to break down the total into demographics: 64.1 percent were men (1,344) and 35.9 percent (752) were women. Nearly 70 percent of deaths occurred in Jeju City. There were no statistics by nationality.

Given that there have been some pretty high-profile cases in the national press recently of English teachers on the mainland dying in falls and accidents (while inebriated), this latest report made me wonder what sorts of counseling resources are available for non-Korean speakers here. (For Koreans, the national suicide hotline is 1588-9191.)

I made a call to the 24-hour Emergency Medical Information Center (tel. 1339, on Jeju 064-1339) which has English speakers available and can refer you to a nearby hospital or pharmacy based on the symptoms you describe. I asked about available services — suicide and crisis hotlines — but the very pleasant and helpful woman at the center found that none are available for non-Korean speakers.

Now that Jeju National University has free legal services for foreigners (See my article “Scales of justice recalibrated” on the Jeju Weekly Web site), it makes a lot of sense that crisis and suicide counseling be made available as soon as possible.

Perhaps in the interim our island expat community should come together to start our own help line. If any of our readers has counseling experience, I’d like to hear your ideas about how we might set this up. My email is
toddthacker@jejuweekly.com.

I’ve heard many expats wonder how they can give back to their community. Officially many visa holders here are barred from volunteering. What better way to help than by listening?