The Catholic News

SEOUL – Angels for Pro-Life, a recently established teenage anti-suicide group, has staged a street campaign to try and reduce the numbers of youth suicides in South Korea.

Seoul archdiocese’s One Body One Spirit Movement paraded through the capital’s Myeongdong shopping district on June 11 with the Catholic youth group to help them get their message across.

Some 150 youths from various parishes around Seoul such as Moonjung2-dong and Gaepo-dong as well from some high schools participated in the event.

The Suicide Prevention Centre of the One Body One Spirit Movement has been teaching youths to respect life and ways of preventing suicides through a “class for life” which began in March last year.

Young people from around 10 schools in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do province joined the class.

“Angels for Pro-Life will play a significant role in suicide prevention in each parish and school,” Sr Gloria Kim Bo-mi, director of the centre said.

A national police agency report released earlier this month said South Korea has the highest suicide rate in the world.

According to Statistics Korea, the teenage suicide rate in the country was 6.5 per 100,000 in 2009, up from 4.6 per 100,000 the previous year.  - UCANEWS.COM