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North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has reportedly passed a ‘secret’ order banning suicide in the country. The 39-year-old leader described the act as “treason against socialism” and has ordered local governments to take preventative measures.
With the worsening economic crisis, the South Korean spy agency found that North Korea witnessed a 40 per cent spike in suicide this year than the previous year, reported The Mirror.
“There are a lot of internal unrest factors in North Korea due to people’s hardships,” a spokesperson for South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said.
The confidential suicide order was delivered in a spate of emergency meetings across the country, reported Radio Free Asia.
One meeting recorded 35 suicide cases this year in Chongjin city and Kyongsong county. Starvation deaths, meanwhile, in North Korea tripled last year. At a meeting in Ryanggang province, the attendees were told suicide has had a greater social impact than starvation, according to The Sun.
Speaking at the meeting, an official said, “Despite the suicide prevention policy ratified by the General Secretary, the officials were not able to come up with an appropriate solution.
“Most of the suicides were caused by severe poverty and starvation, so no one can come up with a countermeasure right now.”
The meeting described several shocking cases in detail, according to the official. “It brought great sadness to all who saw it,” said the official about the suicide of a 10-year-old boy.
Discussing suicides can be triggering for some. However, suicides are preventable. A few major suicide prevention helpline numbers in India are 011-23389090 from Sumaitri (Delhi-based) and 044-24640050 from Sneha Foundation (Chennai-based).