Korea's "Happiness Preacher" commits suicide.

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**Arctik_Firangi**

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/koreas-happiness-preacher-found-dead-20101008-16be0.html

A South Korean television personality known as the "happiness preacher" and her husband have been found dead in a motel room in an apparent joint suicide, police said.

A motel employee in the town of Goyang, north of Seoul, found Choi Yoon-Hee, 63, and her 72-year-old husband hanging in their room on Thursday night, they said.

A note left by Choi and released by police read: "I've felt something wrong with my body from two years ago. I have a hard time, suffering from lung and heart diseases."

Advertisement: Story continues below She apologised to her family and friends for giving in to "unbearable" pain.

Police said the husband was believed to have helped his wife commit suicide before killing himself.

Choi wrote about 20 books about happiness and hope and earned her nickname for inspiring people through her TV programs to live happily.

South Korea has the world's highest suicide rate for women among major advanced nations, according to official data, and the second highest rate for men after Japan.

**Khornholio**

Suicide doesn't have the same stigma in the East that is has in the West. I think the numbers reflect that.

Another possibility, murdered by organized crime. There have been a few cases in Japan of "suicide' in a hotel where the unfortunate soul was found with a noose around their neck and the other end attached to a rail in the closet barely 4 feet off of the ground. How they did it is a bit of a mystery.

**Kilkrazy**

Many western countries have pretty high suicide rates.

Korea and Japan are in the top 10, however so are a bunch of ex-Soviet Union republics.

I have no idea if this reflects socio-economic conditions, or cultural biases for/against suicide. Countries of Christian tradition are usually supposed to have a cultural bias against, however a lot of the ex-SU countries are rather difficult places to live.

Without some analysis and consideration, though, what is a high rate? Perhaps we should worry about any country with a rate above 10 per 100,000 per year.

**efarrer**

Khornholio wrote:Suicide doesn't have the same stigma in the East that is has in the West. I think the numbers reflect that.

Another possibility, murdered by organized crime. There have been a few cases in Japan of "suicide' in a hotel where the unfortunate soul was found with a noose around their neck and the other end attached to a rail in the closet barely 4 feet off of the ground. How they did it is a bit of a mystery.

I'm not sure I understand the mystery part. It's morbid but no mystery. It would be a horrible slow way to go and could result in an ongoing life with permanent disability as many suicide attempts end in failure.

**CyberLegionX**

efarrer wrote:
Khornholio wrote:Suicide doesn't have the same stigma in the East that is has in the West. I think the numbers reflect that.

Another possibility, murdered by organized crime. There have been a few cases in Japan of "suicide' in a hotel where the unfortunate soul was found with a noose around their neck and the other end attached to a rail in the closet barely 4 feet off of the ground. How they did it is a bit of a mystery.

I'm not sure I understand the mystery part. It's morbid but no mystery. It would be a horrible slow way to go and could result in an ongoing life with permanent disability as many suicide attempts end in failure.

I might be shooting myself in the foot here:
Suicide because you can't handle what life has handed to you carries way too much

for me to dig through. People that attempt suicide for attention are just annoying... And just as a doctor friend of mine said and I quote:
These attempted suicide cases

me off... If you gonna do it, do it properly, don't go wasting my damn time when I could be saving someone who is dieing from wounds that he did not inflict on himself

As it stands though I don't have any feelings towards it... some people just can't handle it. Not my place to judge now is it?

**Ahtman**

CyberLegionX wrote: Not my place to judge now is it?

He says after a paragraph of being judgmental.

**agnosto**

2 years of unbearable, physical pain can make a great deal possible that you would not even have considered before...

**Khornholio**

efarrer wrote:
Khornholio wrote:Suicide doesn't have the same stigma in the East that is has in the West. I think the numbers reflect that.

Another possibility, murdered by organized crime. There have been a few cases in Japan of "suicide' in a hotel where the unfortunate soul was found with a noose around their neck and the other end attached to a rail in the closet barely 4 feet off of the ground. How they did it is a bit of a mystery.

I'm not sure I understand the mystery part.

Well, I guess if they were Olympic class gymnasts able to keep their legs extended in front of them, thus keeping their buttocks approximately 20-30cm off of the floor, it would be case closed. But, hanging oneself from 4 feet off of the ground successfully is a bit of a feat for a 60 year old businessman with murky business ties. The real last chancers usually just jump in front of trains. Or start up BBQs in their cars.

**efarrer**

Khornholio wrote:
Well, I guess if they were Olympic class gymnasts able to keep their legs extended in front of them, thus keeping their buttocks approximately 20-30cm off of the floor, it would be case closed. But, hanging oneself from 4 feet off of the ground successfully is a bit of a feat for a 60 year old businessman with murky business ties. The real last chancers usually just jump in front of trains. Or start up BBQs in their cars.

Not arguing that they aren't being murdered but as David Caderre illustrated you can kill yourself in the closet.

And assuming that they are my height or less it's less then the base of their neck at sitting position would be about 2 feet off the ground. For someone with the wrong motivation it's doable.

**Arctik_Firangi**

I don't see what's so problematic about using your own body weight to strangle yourself.

Even if your knees are bent and your toes are trailing on the ground, or you're in a sitting position with your heels on the ground, the majority of your weight is expressed. When people are traditionally hung, they don't give them a floor to stand on in case they actually choose to stand on it.

If you've made up your mind to kill yourself, you simply don't put your body weight on your feet. Job done.

**MasterDRD**

I hate to be the one to do this, but did anyone else notice the irony in the thread's title?

**Cheesecat**

Khornholio wrote:
efarrer wrote:
Khornholio wrote:Suicide doesn't have the same stigma in the East that is has in the West. I think the numbers reflect that.

Another possibility, murdered by organized crime. There have been a few cases in Japan of "suicide' in a hotel where the unfortunate soul was found with a noose around their neck and the other end attached to a rail in the closet barely 4 feet off of the ground. How they did it is a bit of a mystery.

I'm not sure I understand the mystery part.

Well, I guess if they were Olympic class gymnasts able to keep their legs extended in front of them, thus keeping their buttocks approximately 20-30cm off of the floor, it would be case closed. But, hanging oneself from 4 feet off of the ground successfully is a bit of a feat for a 60 year old businessman with murky business ties. The real last chancers usually just jump in front of trains. Or start up BBQs in their cars.

Aren't Asians usually shorter than white people?

**Snikkyd**

MasterDRD wrote:I hate to be the one to do this, but did anyone else notice the irony in the thread's title?

Definatley, I thought it was a joke at first, but no, it was far more serious.

**Wrexasaur**

Ahtman wrote:
CyberLegionX wrote: Not my place to judge now is it?

He says after a paragraph of being judgmental.

You missed the part where a 'doctor friend' was referenced. Lulz.

I don't have that much to add to this thread besides that. Irony isn't always funny, but this story is like something out of an indie movie. More disappointing than anything else, and that isn't saying that indie movies are always disappointing. There are quite a few disappointing movies in general, so the point removes it's own relevance.

Hmm... Not much else to say.

**Arctik_Firangi**

MasterDRD wrote:I hate to be the one to do this, but did anyone else notice the irony in the thread's title?

I have an overwhelming desire to comment in a sarcastic fashion... but I couldn't be bothered. Yes, it's ironic by Western standards. That's why it made news.

**MasterDRD**

Arctik_Firangi wrote:
MasterDRD wrote:I hate to be the one to do this, but did anyone else notice the irony in the thread's title?

I have an overwhelming desire to comment in a sarcastic fashion... but I couldn't be bothered. Yes, it's ironic by Western standards. That's why it made news.

Oh no, be bothered. I love sarcasm, in all its forms...

**sebster**

Yeah, I laughed at the thread title, and then read the story where the couple killed themselves due to the pain of struggling with terminal disease. Which suddenly isn't ironic at all and really just sad.

Then I thought that lots of North Koreans probably suffer in similar ways, because they lack the medical technology we have. Which made it kind of ironic again, but not funny.

Wrexasaur wrote:I don't have that much to add to this thread besides that. Irony isn't always funny, but this story is like something out of an indie movie. More disappointing than anything else, and that isn't saying that indie movies are always disappointing. There are quite a few disappointing movies in general, so the point removes it's own relevance.

Yeah, lots of movies are disappointing, but whereas a blockbuster will disappoint me because it was so stupid, an indie movie will generally disappoint me because it was really skeezy.

This was disappointing in the skeezy way.

**BloodDrop101X**

Funny title but that was a sad story very ironic to if you ask me.