Mapo Bridge

The Mapo Bridge crosses the Han River in South Korea and connects the Mapo District and the Yeongdeungpo District in the city of Seoul. The bridge was completed in 1970. Until 1984, the bridge was called Seoul Bridge.[1]

Mapo Bridge
Korean name
Hangul
Hanja
Revised RomanizationMapo daegyo
McCune–ReischauerMap'o taegyo

Suicides

The suicide rate is very high in South Korea and bridge jumping is common. Mapo Bridge has a reputation of jumpers with over 100 attempts in between 2007 and 2012.[2]

On July 26, 2013, Sung Jae-ki jumped off Mapo Bridge in an attempt to draw attention to gender inequality against men and a plea to accrue needed funds for 'Men of Korea'. Although rescue work began almost immediately after he fell and a widespread search of the Han River was conducted, his body was not found until July 29, 2013.[3]

Samsung Life Insurance will provide ongoing funding via pictures, words, and a statue to encourage potential jumpers not to jump.[2][4] For instance, the bridge's handrails have been equipped with motion sensors to sense movement, lighting up with short phrases (written with the help of suicide prevention specialists and psychologists), also showing photos of happy families among other things. However, in 2015 after the slogans not showing to help, Samsung started to remove the lights and slogans. By October 9, 2019 all their suicide prevention slogans and lights were removed, with the bridge instead being equipped with barrier protection for potential jumpers.[5]

Further information: Cheil Worldwide § Samsung Life Insurance (Bridge of Life)
  • The phrase on the handrail pictured reads "the wind is really nice."

See also

References
  1. (in Korean) 마포대교 麻浦大橋 (Mapo Bridge) Archived 2011-06-10 at the Wayback Machine Nate / EncyKorea, retrieved on July 13, 2009
  2. Chung, Jane (October 3, 2012). "South Korea Suicides: Mapo Bridge Gets Uplifting Signs To Prevent Suicides". Huffington Post. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  3. "Sung jae gi threw himself to Han river and missing" (in Korean). MBC. 27 July 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  4. Shayon, Sheila (February 7, 2012). "At a Bridge in Seoul Where Koreans Frequently Give Up, Samsung Steps In". Brand Channel. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  5. Jang, Lina (October 23, 2019). "Slogans for Suicide Prevention Removed from Mapo Bridge After 7 Years".


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