[dchung333]

The CDC runs numbers on this for teachers the rate is about 7 per 100,000 every year this is one of the lowest rates out there. Similarly this rate translates from the 500,000 teachers to a rate of 4 per 100,000 which is statistically much lower than the USA and lower than the rates of suicides in the country as a whole. The article also likes to claim that this is caused directly by this specific policy which is also not true.

The suicide rate in South Korea is primarily focused on the elderly population that was abandoned while the nation grew, it's primarily focused on the financial collapse that occurred in the 90s when the nation's stock exchange was targeted by other financial markets in order to generate wealth a similar event has occurred in other Asian countries which forced several million people into poverty.

As for the other issues hyper competition is intense in most Asian countries, these issues are not unique to South Korea. In fact they are significantly worse in China and India. There is no culture problem but a systemic issue of a lack of jobs and opportunities and the overproduction of elites or highly educated individuals.