President Lee: "Decrease in Suicides Is the Most Meaningful and Significant Achievement... Still More to Reduce"

In the First Half of This Year, Suicide Deaths Down 12.7% from Last Year
Lee Stresses, "There Is Still a Long Way to Go, Half Must Be Further Reduced"

President Lee Jae-myung stated on the 28th, "The significant decrease in the number of suicides is the most meaningful and the greatest achievement among the many accomplishments of our administration."

On this day, President Lee shared a post on his X account (formerly Twitter) stating that "the number of suicide deaths in the first half of 2026 decreased by 12.7% compared to the previous year," and made this comment.

President Lee Jae-myung is presiding over an emergency meeting to respond to flood damage in Nepal at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Seoul on August 27, 2026. Photo by Yonhap News

President Lee remarked, "There is nothing more precious than human life," adding, "I deeply thank and commend the Prime Minister, who has overall responsibility, as well as the related public officials and those engaged in relevant work for their dedication, and ask them to strive even harder."

However, President Lee also noted, "There is still a long way to go," emphasizing, "We need to further reduce the current number of suicides by half."

President Lee continued, "While practical responses such as manpower, organization, and budget are important, the most fundamental measure is to create a hopeful society. The core of building hope is improving people's daily lives, that is, enhancing livelihoods."

He added, "This is why the highest priority for the government has been to focus on the economy and livelihoods and to reverse the economic growth rate, which had fallen to the 0% range."

Alongside this, President Lee included the hashtags '#GovernmentSavingLives' and '#SuicideSuicideSuicide.'

According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics, the number of suicide deaths in the first half of this year was 6,278 (provisional), a decrease of 910 from 7,188 in the same period last year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.