Coffin Academies in S Korea

[BipolarExpat]

Kinda' old news but maybe you've never heard of it:

South Koreans, Seeking New Zest for Life, Experience Their Own Funerals

South Koreans, Seeking New Zest for Life, Experience Their Own Funerals (Published 2016)

Participants of the mock funeral program write a testament, don a shroud, and climb in a coffin, which is then hammered shut for 10 long minutes.

www.nytimes.com

South Korea's 'Coffin Academy' - The World from PRX

From the archives: An unusual attempt to turn South Korea's high suicide rate around by 'getting close to death.'

www.pri.org

 

[Manaaja]

Thanks for posting! I've never heard of it. Really interesting, and really unusual. I kind of want to try it.

"Businesses send employees as part of a motivational program." What on earth?! Weren't mini golf and spa good enough lol. "You're not motivated enough. Go to your own funeral. Now!"

 

[BipolarExpat]

Yeah it's an interesting one for sure - even for Koreans' quirkiness that sometimes comes across as very odd (I lived there for 5 years).

Anyways, they've got a lot of "academies" that cater to many skills, interests, etc. over there but this one is kinda' "out there."

If any country needs a healthier outlook on mental health/suicide, it's S Korea. They're rates are typically double the US and that's saying something.

 

[Severen]

Yeah it's an interesting one for sure - even for Koreans' quirkiness that sometimes comes across as very odd (I lived there for 5 years).

Anyways, they've got a lot of "academies" that cater to many skills, interests, etc. over there but this one is kinda' "out there."

If any country needs a healthier outlook on mental health/suicide, it's S Korea. They're rates are typically double the US and that's saying something.

Korean culture is very archaic, to say the least.

 

[Manaaja]

Yeah it's an interesting one for sure - even for Koreans' quirkiness that sometimes comes across as very odd (I lived there for 5 years).

Anyways, they've got a lot of "academies" that cater to many skills, interests, etc. over there but this one is kinda' "out there."

If any country needs a healthier outlook on mental health/suicide, it's S Korea. They're rates are typically double the US and that's saying something.

Cool that you had a chance to live in Korea! If I had money, I'd travel there - and Japan of course - before ctb.

I'm not an expert, but from what I've read, aren't a lot of suicides there related to too much school work and work? You have to get As and enter the best university? And then wage slave to death? At least in Japan, the second school starts after the summer break students and pupils go and kill themselves.

Btw, I just remembered. I once played a Korean game that was based on real Korea. In the game someone's brother was hospitalized and put into mental ward, but his brother "rescued" him from there, helped him escape, because that place was "way too bad and evil" even for a lunatic sociopath. I read comments about it from other players, and many said that Korean mental hospitals etc. are awful places, really awful. I really wonder what they do in them?

 

[BipolarExpat]

I'm not an expert, but from what I've read, aren't a lot of suicides there related to too much school work and work? You have to get As and enter the best university? And then wage slave to death?

Absolutely. Alcoholism is quite high as well, a direct result of pressure and other cultural expectations.
The competition to "succeed" is very intense.
Students often attend (regular) school all day and then go to specialized academies in the evenings and on weekends. It's overkill.

I was first there in 1996 and specifically remember 5 young girls (maybe 13 y/o - 15 y/o) holding hands and jumping off a skyscraper in Seoul. :( The report said they were stressed about future college placement, etc.

I read comments about it from other players, and many said that Korean mental hospitals etc. are awful places, really awful. I really wonder what they do in them?

I dunno but based on how strict Korean jails/prisons are (not from direct experience), I'd imagine they're fairly miserable.