The Mapo Bridge crosses the Han River in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

and connects the

Mapo District Mapo District () is one of the 25 districts of Seoul, South Korea. Mapo has a population of 381,330 (2015) and has a geographic area of 23.87 km2 (9.22 sq mi), and is divided into 24 '' dong'' (administrative neighborhoods). Mapo is located in w ...

and the

Yeongdeungpo District Yeongdeungpo District () is an administrative district in southwest Seoul, South Korea. Although the origin of the name is uncertain, the first two syllables are thought to be from "''yeongdeung''" (靈登) or "divine ascent", a shamanic rite. T ...

in the city of

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

. The

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

was completed in 1970. Until 1984, the bridge was called Seoul Bridge.

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. On July 26, 2013,

Sung Jae-ki Sung Jae-gi ( ; September 11, 1967 – July 26, 2013) was a South Korean men's rights activist and anti-feminist. Sung founded and was the first chairman of Man of Korea, a men's rights group advocating the abolition of the Ministry of ...

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, it took three days to retrieve his body. In an effort to deter suicides on the bridge,

Samsung Life Insurance Samsung Life Insurance (Korean: 삼성생명보험) is a South Korean multinational insurance company headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, and a subsidiary of the Samsung Group. It is the largest insurance company in South Korea and a Fortune Gl ...

added pictures, words, and a statue that were intended to foster an encouraging atmosphere. For instance, the bridge's handrails were 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, such measures were deemed to be a failure in 2015 and Samsung eventually replaced the lights and slogans with barriers in a return to a more physical approach to suicide prevention by October.

Gallery

File:Mapo Bridge.png, The phrase on the handrail pictured reads "the wind is really nice."

References

Bridges in Seoul Bridges completed in 1970 {{SouthKorea-bridge-struct-stub

Suicides

Gallery

See also

References