1 00 a. M. , water rescue unit lies on the bank of the river that flows through the city. The team is not allowed even a moment of sleep. They monitor the situation. A man gets out of a taxi on the bridge. What is he doing . Its unusual for a person to get out of car on the bridge. Unfortunately, people get out of taxis and jump. The man was on the 1. 4 mapo bridge, an important traffic artery through seoul. Its south koreas most famous place for suicides. Someone jumps at least once every day. A Fast Response can often save lives. Nationwide over 10,000 people a year commit suicide in south korea. The country has the highest suicide rate of any industrialized nation. A new segment is covering an elderly suicide. S segment is co elderly suicide. He lived on benefits with no family. The number of elderly suicides is rising, becoming a social issue. The number of suicides per 100,000 people are shown in the chart. Theres been a huge increase in suicides over the age of 60. Half of all elderly koreans live in poverty. Recent Economic Growth has led to widening wage gaps. Safety net of pensions and benefits has fallen behind. Many people are making tragic decisions. How can the rise in elderly suicides be halted . The public and private sectors are Building New Community links. These programs are beginning to show results. In this episode of asia insight, we explore the front line of suicide prevent in south korea. Whats happening to the elderly . A central seoul location symbolizes the answer. Today, its very cold. Yet regardless of the weather, a small space at the edge of this park is packed with 200 Senior Citizens every day. From dawn until dusk, the elderly linger here with no real objective. This generation was part of the miracle on the haun river, the extraordinary Economic Growth in south korea that began in the 1960s. Why are they now leading the way in suicide . A prominent figure in Suicide Research head a private outreach group. He says the problems roots lie in the changing structure of korean society. Translator the factors that led to south koreas suicide problem came in late 1997. It started with the imf crisis. Because of the 1998 Asian Financial crisis, south koreas economy was on the brink of collapse. In return for loans from the imf, the government agreed to deregulate its labor market. Kims administration passed laws making it easy to fire workers. Huge numbers became unemployed and protests occurred across the country. Workers. Huge numbers became unemployed and protests occurred across the country. Fire workers. Huge numbers became unemployed and protests occurred across the country. Firms began to limit the number of regular employees turning in mass to temporary staff. As society became more unstable, suicide rates rose translar althoh the elrly kill themselvesor biggest on i t the biggest factor is losing a sense of belonging and closeness. They live separately from their families and they have no job. They are no longer economically independent. They have a feeling of not belonging anywhere. Thats the reason for their depression. 450,000 people live in seongbuk district in seoul. It has the highest population of elderly People Living along. The district set up a volunteer campaign, compassionate caregivers in order to lower the elderly suicide rate. Kim jungheehas been a caregiver for six years. Today she is visiting a person with local officials as she does several times a month. Kim works at a welfare facility. She volunteers as a caregiver on her days off. Today shes visiting a lady who lives alone. Shes turning 78. As her birthday is coming up, they celebrate together. Six years ago serious depression put her at risk of suicide. Kim has been visiting her since then. She has no family and lost touch with her siblings. After moving house, she doesnt know her neighbors and was completely alone for a lon time. Kim sits and chats with her when she visits. This domestic arrangement has helped choi get back on her feet. What led to chois initial depression . She lives on monthly benefits of 500,000 yuan, about 400 u. S. Dollars. Its not an easy life, but she says that wasnt the reason. Translator i have never felt life was particularly hard, but when i was young, i worked and didnt really notice how i felt. Now that im older, i feel lonely. My heart pulls at me even when im asleep. I sometimes just want to run outside and escape. Meeting kim and the others has given me a reason to live. Translator at the moment were helping choi make friends. They go to the market together. Shes a lot happier. She really does depend on me, so thats a lot of responsibility, but its very rewarding. The compassion caregiver system was set up in 2010 by local leaders. Translator we built a civilian organization that worked together with the local government. Its a Public Private approach to Suicide Prevention. In 2011, the elderly suicide rate reached peak of 50 per 100,000 persons. With the program, we reduced it to half of what it was during that peak period. Seongbuk Suicide Prevention center. The center has five permanent staff with dedicated counselors among them. The group leads prevention strategy in seongbuk and provides training for caregivers. Theres a 24hour phone line answering people with Serious Problems as well as concerned family members. Counselors listen to financial and family information looking for potential motives that may lead to suicide. They create a file and make notes for each individual in the program. This file is for a 69yearold male. He has financial concerns about rent and living expenses, but he has no one to talk to. I have a son but he refuses all contact with me. Family ties mean nothing. Im alone. How can i start a charcoal fire to kill myself . This 72yearold man is worried about bad results from a medical examination. The doctors discovered tumors in my large intestines and stomach. I dont want to tell my children. I dont want them to know, but money is so sight. Im not sure what to do. The records are used to classify and care for people. There are three levels. High risk from attempted suicide and severe depression. Moderate risk requiring regular care and low risk in stable condition. The centers professional counselors are very dedicated and work directly with those who attempted suicide or those very unstable. They provide counselling when needed. Visit peoples homes and check up on people by phone. On the other hand, the volunteer compassion Caregivers Work with people who may not be in crisis, but who need ongoing support. There are currently 246 Caregivers Working with 354 clients. Oneonone care is the ideal. The caregivers are local residents and trained in Suicide Prevention before they are sent out. The key reasons for elderly suicide are illness, isolation and financial problems. The largest cause is isolation. The custom of living together as extended families is declining. Because people seldom speak to their neighbor, a sense of community is being lost. In this program our clients and local caregivers become like family. Matching people on that basis is a very new approach. The suicide prevent center doesnt just wait to hear from residents. It works with public and private organizations to gather information on elderly people at risk. These organizations are the hospitals, police, Fire DepartmentsWelfare Centers, private Community Groups and social workers. These social workers work with the Government Support system for elderly People Living alone. There are about 50 of these professionals in seongbuk district. If an elderly person has difficulties, a social worker is assigned to them. The worker phones twice a week to check up on residents and their condition and visits once a week to give them any support they may need in person. They offer help to the elderly in various ways. Translator many elderly people suffer from physical ailments and other help problems such as aches and pains and bad eyesight. If eyesight is poor, there can be hygiene problems. If they eat in darkroom, they might not notice that the food has spoiled. I do tasks like changing lig lightbul lightbulbs, throwing out food, that kind of thing. Kim maljoo is a seongbuk social worker. Shes in charge of 38 clients. Regular contact helps workers notice changes in a persons health, but many feel that i can dont have enough time to spend on such care. Three months ago she became concerned about one of her clients and got in touch with the Suicide Prevention center. 73yearold tom has been living on benefits for about two years. He started showing signs of depression and demetntia this summer. He says hes fine and doesnt need support, but i can see problems with hiygiene, clothin and general cleanliness. Even though i suggest he go out, hes very reluctant to do so. From a psychological perspective, hes rejecting human contact. I think its necessary for him to have ongoing support. In response to kims request, the Suicide Prevention center checks up on tom. Hes quickly assigned a caregiver but hes not very welcoming. , but hes not very welcoming. Translator the most challenging aspect of our work is getting elderly people to open up and talk to us about the problems that they face. This is the real difficulty. They all say the same thing. Rejecting the support that we try to give them, go away unless you can provide Financial Support or if you cant give us help at once, we dont need you. Reporter the man tasked with helping him open up is 77yearold park sangchul. He first began visiting three months ago. Today hes with the welfare official. It is difficult for people to talk or answer if you start off with detailed questions about their personal history or private matters. So i start by chatting casually. I talk about myself to make him feel comfortable. In order to get him to open up, i try hard to properly understand his situation. Hes kept an eye on the situation. He seems stable and has given permission for cameras to film his home. Park retired as a Civil Servant ten years ago and moved to seoul. He has family but no friends nearby. Feeling lonely, he discovered the assistance of caregivers and applied. Hes concerned about tom who is around the same age as himself. It will take time for him to become optimistic, but park sees an improvement. He seems to be opening up and is beginning to share how he feels. He has a goal in mind for him. Translator at the Welfare Center there are so many things to do. They have table tennis. Games like go and singing karaoke, but i think hes not ready to be around people yet. Therefore, id like to start by taking him to eat lunch there. Perhaps watch some tv afterwards. I want to give him the opportunity to be more social. I want to build ways for him to get used to being around other people. Park discusses his goal with enthusiasm, but he cannot stop worrying about himself and his own future, in general. Translator when i see ton on his own, it scares me. In five or ten years, maybe i will be lying motionless in bed. It may be that ton is just facing this a little earlier than me. I retired quite recently, so i havent got as far along as he has. Theres still room for me to turn into him. South korea has the fastest aging society of any country. In 2030, the country will have 13 million elderly people. Approximately 25 of the pop youlati population and almost double the current number. How will the country maintain ties between the elderly and society at large . How will it prevent lives from being lost . South koreas search for answers continues. A very warm welcome to nhk newsline broadcasting to viewers around the globe. It is 10 00 a. M. In tokyo. Im catherine kobayashi. Our top story this hour. Officials in u. S. And japan are finalizing details on a new Economic Framework for preparations between their countrys leaders. The Prime Minister and the president will meet friday in washington. The framework would see cabinet ministers from both sides discuss Macro Economic and trade policy. Shinzo abe plans to confirm with donald trump that the two countries will Work Together for mutually beneficial economic relations, and a stronger alliance. Hes eager to show it remains strong. Trump earlier said hed be open to exploring a trade deal with japan