Written by Lee Yoo Eun
The death by suicide on May 23, 2011, of national television channel MBC sports announcer Song Ji-seon in South Korea, has sparked considerable controversy regarding social media in the country.
South Korea has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, but this latest case has opened a new debate on the public health issue.
Social media involvement?
Song came to public attention after the accidental disclosure of her relationship with Korean baseball player Lim Tae-hoon via a journal-style post on her Cyworld [ko] account (Korean version of Facebook), which led to his subsequent denial of the attachment.
The original post was removed, but the screen capture image of the post can be found online, and despite hacking allegations, is believed to have been written by Song herself.
The troubled presenter is thought to have faced criticism [ko] from malicious online comments regarding the relationship, and faced possible suspension or sacking from work over the issue. She sparked concern [ko] amongst her Twitter followers regarding her state of mind, with a number of worrying tweets up until her death.
A special website LimTae-hoon.com [ko] has been set up, on the one hand revealing alleged salacious aspects of Song’s relationship with Lim and on the other paying condolences to the deceased. The site’s several pages temporarily halted yesterday due to high web traffic.
Lim has faced online abuse, with several portal sites blocking the comments sections of news articles reporting on the case.
Mainstream media response
Major South Korean sports newspaper, Sport Seoul, has implied [ko] that social media played a role in Song’s death, quoting a government official as saying that lies and speculative articles are shared and rapidly spread via social media.
Net users have strongly criticized the comment as irresponsible and devious. Suicide is known to be a complex issue often with multiple causes.
Certain ways of presenting and portraying suicide in the media appear to precipitate suicidal behaviour in vulnerable people, and most news organisations follow guidelines on reporting responsibly.
Twitter user @rselove83 tweeted [ko]:
ì†¡ì§€ì„ ì•„ë‚˜ìš´ì„œì˜ ì£½ìŒì„ SNS 탓으로 ëŒë¦¬ëŠ” 무책임한 ì–¸ë¡ ê¸°ì‚¬ë„¤ìš” http://bit.ly/mxMi3z ì•…ì„±ëŒ“ê¸€ì´ ë‹¬ë¦¬ë„ë¡ ìžê·¹ì ì¸ê¸°ì‚¬ë¥¼ ì“°ê³ ë˜ ê·¸ 악성댓글로 다시 기사화한 것 너네 ì–¸ë¡ ë“¤ì´ ì•„ë‹ˆì—ˆëŠ”ì§€.[…]
A sports fan, Min-tong (@MintAcademy) tweeted [ko]:
“SNSê°€ 그녀를 벼랑으로 몰았나” ì†¡ì§€ì„ ì•„ë‚˜ìš´ì„œ ìžì‚´ì´ ê¼ SNS 때문ì¸ê²ƒ 처럼 ë§í•˜ëŠ” 기사들 ë니… SNS는 ë„êµ¬ì¼ ë¿ì´ê³ 그걸 쓰는 ì‚¬ëžŒë“¤ì´ ë¬¸ì œì¸ê±°ìž–ì•„. ì´ê±¸ 빌미로 SNS ê·œì œ í• ë ¤ê³ ê·¸ëŸ¬ë‹ˆ?
A female sports broadcaster and a colleague of Song’s has commented [ko] that the South Korean sports world is still a hostile place for women.
If you need any support or advice regarding this issue, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has a comprehensive list of crisis centers around the world.
Click here for a guide on the responsible reporting of suicide.
Originally Published at Global Voices: http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/05/25/south-korea-social-media-controversy-surrounds-sports-broadcasters-death/