Number of suicides in military on steady rise

SEOUL, July 11 (Yonhap) -- The number of suicides by South Korean soldiers on base has been on a steady rise over the past half-dozen years, a report showed Monday.
According to the data compiled by the defense ministry, 65 soldiers committed suicide in 2005. The number rose to 77 in 2006 and to 80 the following year. It fell slightly to 75 in 2008, before reaching 81 in 2009 and 82 last year.
The ministry said in the same 2005-2010 period, 10 soldiers were either shot or beaten to death. In 2005, a disgruntled private on a frontline unit opened fire on his colleagues, killing eight.
The ministry estimates physical and verbal abuse are often the cause of suicides. All able-bodied South Korean men are conscripted to serve about two years in the armed forces. As a country, South Korea has one of the world's highest suicide rates.
Group suicides among strangers who meet online have become a phenomenon, and celebrities, including actors, singers, athletes and television personalities, have recently killed themselves, too.
The ministry said it has been trying to eradicate the "evil practices" of abuse on base but there are some units whose soldiers still try to establish order through abusive ways.