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THE number of South Korean school students who died by suicide reached a record high of 244 in 2025, up nearly 65 per cent from five years earlier, government data showed on Sept 13.
The Education Ministry data, obtained by Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Moon-soo, showed that the deaths involved six elementary school students, 92 middle school students and 146 high school students.
The total was up 10.4 per cent from 221 deaths in 2024 and 64.9 per cent from 148 in 2020, when the ministry began compiling the data.
The number of deaths increased in Seoul, Busan and South Gyeongsang province.
Seoul recorded 51 student suicides in 2025, up 27.5 per cent from 40 in 2024, while Busan recorded 22, more than three times the seven deaths reported a year earlier.
South Gyeongsang recorded 25 deaths, up 25 per cent from 20 in 2024.
Gyeonggi province, which has the country’s largest student population, recorded 51 deaths, down from 63 in 2024 and the province’s lowest figure since 2021.
The data listed family issues as reported contributing factors in 77 cases, followed by mental health issues in 58, academic and career concerns in 54 and interpersonal relationships in 38.
The contributing factors were unknown in 79 cases, while more than one factor could be recorded for each death.
The government announced a nationwide teenage suicide prevention strategy in June, setting a target of reducing the suicide rate among the age group by about half by 2035.
“The Education Ministry, metropolitan and provincial education offices, district education offices and schools must all work to prevent children from taking their own lives,” The Korean Herald cited Kim saying.
“We need to strengthen related policies, including the student mental health support programmes already under way,” he said. - September 14, 2026
