South Korea accounts for the largest number of suicide cases among 34 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development with 28.7 individuals committing suicide for every 100,000 people last year, says the Korean Association for Suicide Prevention (TKASP).

The figure is 10 times higher than Greece- the country to have the lowest rate of suicides among OECD nations- and 1.5 times higher than Japan.

A TKASP employee who spoke on a condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak told the media Koreans on their 20s are the common victims blaming pressure on getting a good job as the primary culprit.

"The pressure to find gainful employment is one of the main causes of suicide among those in their 20s," The Chosunilbo quoted the employee as saying pointing out that 10 of the suicide cases this year have been linked to a failure in finding jobs.

In April 2011, an online job search portal conducted a survey among recent graduates about the common emotional state on their job hunt. The results concluded that 10 respondents were tempted to commit suicide because of difficulty in finding a job in the local overheated job market. Most companies are trimming down the number of new hires.

Overall, the online job portal reported that 30.9 per cent of respondents pondered on suicide due to a fear of never finding a job, while 26.2 per cent felt social isolation and helpless, and 20.1 per cent grumbled that others regard them as incompetent because of the unemployed status.

A related report from Straits Times said suicide groups that proliferate on the Web is another factor of the increase in number of suicide. Most members of the suicide groups are between the ages 18 and 27. Also in the said article, a 24-year-old woman was rescued after she, another woman and three men, whom she met online jumped off the bridge.

Hwang Sang-min, a professor of psychology at Yonsei University told the Wall Street Journal that suicide in South Korea is connected to a local concept of "han," stoicism associated with impotence and anger which are likely to surface in an insurmountable situation.

"When a situation is bad and they cannot show their cool selves, Koreans tend to get frustrated, give up and take drastic choices," the Wall Street Journal quoted professor Hwang as saying.

The Seoul government is currently working out a plan on solving the problem of suicide, which is trending more towards its youth.