Fourth KAIST student commits suicide

Another student at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, one of the nation’s most distinguished academic institutions, committed suicide, the police said on Thursday.

The student identified by his surname Park was the fourth at the school to take his own life this year.

The police said the 18-year-old was found by a passer-by in front of an apartment building in Incheon at around 1:20 in the afternoon.

The police recovered the 18-year old student’s belongings on the roof of the apartment, and that they also found short circuit TV footage showing Park getting off the elevator in the building.

Just two days before his suicide, Park had applied for a temporary leave of absence after supplying his school with a diagnosis confirming that he was suffering from depression.

A KAIST professor who Park had consulted on his leave of absence said that Park seemed to be suffering because his grades were not meeting his expectations.

Park joined the growing line of students who were taking their own lives at KAIST, reportedly because they were breaking under the pressure of intense competition.

Adding to the pressure is the unique system under which students pay different amounts of tuition based on their grades.

Some of the KAIST students said “this mad system,” along with KAIST president Suh Nam-pyo’s “refusal to tolerate failure” was the cause of the suicides and an overall sense of despair at the school,

Immediately after Park’s suicide was reported, Suh held a press conference where he said KAIST would be scrapping the tuition system.

By Kim Ji-hyun