[Reporter’s Notebook] From Bridge of Death to Bridge of Life

A 2.5m safety railing installed on the Mapo Bridge in Seoul. Upon visiting and inspecting it, the safety railing was designed to be difficult to climb. The upper part was made of wire. If the wires spread more than 10 cm apart, a sensor activates and the 119 rescue team is dispatched. Although I was cautious about being mistaken for a suicide attempt, I climbed up once to check. While devices were installed to prevent climbing, it was not impossible to get on if one was determined. Throughout the bridge, there were curbs and structures to step on and hang from, and the gaps between the wires were wide enough for a head to fit through.

Last year, 1,035 people made extreme attempts from bridges over the Han River. Seoul City is increasing the installation of safety railings, but the number of jump attempts continues to rise steadily. This is why there are lamenting voices about where the Miracle on the Han River has gone and how it has become a bridge of death. Statistically, the installation of safety railings has proven effective. On Mapo Bridge, suicide attempts increased by 61.8% over two years, which was lower than the average increase rate of 65.3%, and on Hangang Bridge, attempts decreased by 23.4%.

However, since safety railings were installed only on some bridges, jump attempts at nearby bridges without railings more than doubled. This is the so-called ‘balloon effect,’ where solving the problem in one place causes it to arise elsewhere. It is said that installing safety railings uniformly across all Han River bridges is necessary to achieve practical effects.

While preparing the ‘Han River Bridge SOS’ feature article, I conducted multiple face-to-face and telephone interviews with experts. During this process, it took quite some time to explain the purpose of the project. There were concerns about repetitive reporting styles such as ‘○○ Bridge ranks first in suicide jumps.’ In particular, the advice from Professor Eun-Jin Lee of Suwon University Graduate School of Social Welfare (Chair of External Cooperation at the Korea Suicide Prevention Association), who said, “Detailed descriptions should be avoided as they may promote suicide methods to high-risk groups,” resonated deeply with me.

While fully agreeing with that intention, the reason for writing this article was to urge policymakers to establish proper suicide prevention measures. Naturally, preventing jumps from the Han River alone will not reduce extreme choices overall. It is also known that there are many other places and methods. For example, when screen doors were installed in subway stations in Seoul in the past, jump attempts from the Han River increased. To shed the stigma of being a ‘suicide republic,’ it is urgent to develop fundamental comprehensive measures such as analyzing social factors, fostering communication and solidarity, and providing mental health counseling.