ID :
22462
Fri, 10/03/2008 - 10:32
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/22462
The shortlink copeid
Two suicides after actress' death stoke fears of copycats
SEOUL, Oct. 3 (Yonhap) -- Two women were found hanging from elastic bands less than 24 hours after the chilling death of iconic South Korean actress Choi Jin-sil, police said Friday, raising fears of possible copycat suicides.
Choi, 40, who was a fixture of Korean prime-time television dramas spanning two
decades, was found dead on Thursday hanging from a shower stall with an elastic
band tied around her neck in her home in southern Seoul.
Malicious rumors, depression and fallout from an ugly divorce in 2004 have been
cited as factors that drove the actress to her death.
As the nation braced for a possible rash of copycat suicides, police reported
that two women were found dead in circumstances similar to the actress' death.
A 55-year-old woman identified only by her family name Park was found dead
shortly after midnight hanging from an elastic band in the bathroom of her
apartment in Haenam County, South Jeolla Province. Her family says the woman
suffered from depression.
Park's son told police that she "went into the bathroom to take a shower, but
that after a while nothing was heard from inside."
Another woman, identified by her family name Lee, was found dead after hanging
herself with an elastic band in her multi-family house in Gangneung, Gangwon
Province, at around 6 a.m. Friday morning.
A neighbor who lives downstairs notified police after receiving a phone call from
Lee, 30, giving her the password to her home an hour earlier.
No suicide notes have been found in either case.
Experts fear the shock of Choi's death will be particularly poignant, given the
weight of her presence in Korea's entertainment industry. With a cheerful
demeanor and versatile talents, she charmed audiences with her roles in dramas,
movies and commercials since her debut in 1988.
Choi's life took a tumultuous turn when her marriage to pro baseball player Cho
Sung-min in 2002 quickly unraveled two years later in 2004, ending in an ugly
divorce. The actress had reportedly taken medication for depression since.
Min Seong-gil, a psychiatrist at Yonsei University's Severance Hospital, said
Choi's death may trigger what is known as the so-called Werther effect, named
after the protagonist in the German playwright Goethe's work, "The Sorrows of
Young Werther."
"For ordinary individuals, if a celebrity they know encounters problems and
commits suicide, they come to think that they are incapable of solving their own
problems and make the same decision," he said.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
Choi, 40, who was a fixture of Korean prime-time television dramas spanning two
decades, was found dead on Thursday hanging from a shower stall with an elastic
band tied around her neck in her home in southern Seoul.
Malicious rumors, depression and fallout from an ugly divorce in 2004 have been
cited as factors that drove the actress to her death.
As the nation braced for a possible rash of copycat suicides, police reported
that two women were found dead in circumstances similar to the actress' death.
A 55-year-old woman identified only by her family name Park was found dead
shortly after midnight hanging from an elastic band in the bathroom of her
apartment in Haenam County, South Jeolla Province. Her family says the woman
suffered from depression.
Park's son told police that she "went into the bathroom to take a shower, but
that after a while nothing was heard from inside."
Another woman, identified by her family name Lee, was found dead after hanging
herself with an elastic band in her multi-family house in Gangneung, Gangwon
Province, at around 6 a.m. Friday morning.
A neighbor who lives downstairs notified police after receiving a phone call from
Lee, 30, giving her the password to her home an hour earlier.
No suicide notes have been found in either case.
Experts fear the shock of Choi's death will be particularly poignant, given the
weight of her presence in Korea's entertainment industry. With a cheerful
demeanor and versatile talents, she charmed audiences with her roles in dramas,
movies and commercials since her debut in 1988.
Choi's life took a tumultuous turn when her marriage to pro baseball player Cho
Sung-min in 2002 quickly unraveled two years later in 2004, ending in an ugly
divorce. The actress had reportedly taken medication for depression since.
Min Seong-gil, a psychiatrist at Yonsei University's Severance Hospital, said
Choi's death may trigger what is known as the so-called Werther effect, named
after the protagonist in the German playwright Goethe's work, "The Sorrows of
Young Werther."
"For ordinary individuals, if a celebrity they know encounters problems and
commits suicide, they come to think that they are incapable of solving their own
problems and make the same decision," he said.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
