Mental health experts have called for a major shift in the way mental illness is tackled in South Korea, where the suicide rate remains the highest in the developed world.

Suicide is the leading cause of death in Korea for people under the age of 40 - and it's an issue that's only gotten worse in recent years.

The rate of suicide is often measured in terms of deaths per 100,000 people - in Korea it accounts for 32 deaths per 100,000 people.

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In second placed Hungary and Japan, it's around 20 per 100,000 people.”

The subject has been put under spotlight again this week, after former baseball player Cho Sung-Min was found dead at his girlfriend's house.

More than 10 public figures have killed themselves in the past eight years, including professional footballers, Korean pop stars, movie actors and a former president.

Adding to the tragedy is the large number of copycat suicides that follow high-profile cases like Cho Sung-Min's.

Cho Sung-Min was the former husband of the hugely popular actress Choi Jin-Sil, who also took her life.

There was a 70 per cent spike in the number of suicides in the three months following her death in 2008.

The director of the Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, Professor Paul Yip, says the media has a significant role to play in curbing the rates of suicide.

He says too often the news reports fail to explain the issues surrounding mental illness.

"I think there's a lot of people who commit suicide, they do suffer mental illness, they do suffer from depression, [but] this information is not usually reported in the media," he said.

"They always say that it's because of a failure of an exam, or illness.

"And just to simplify the cause of suicide is it not a very useful way to promote this correct awareness of the mental wellness."

Korean cultural expert Dr Roald Maliangkay, from the Australian National University, says it doesn't help that TV soap operas often depict suicide in their storylines, thereby fostering romantic notions on the subject.

"It is indeed very prevalent, it also romanticised and I think that's the key issue here, and has been for quite a while been part of Korean storytelling in dramas and in movies," he said.

"Some of my friends sometimes joke that when I try to show them a Korean movie, they ask me whether somebody's going to die again or not because that seems to be really what a lot of the Korean movies are about."

Dr Maliangkay says Korea, Japan and China have cultures that discourage people from seeking help for psychological issues.

"Confucian ideals and notions still kind of dominate, which means that the idea that a man has to be strong and support his family and, basically, put up with stress as a result is there and that prevents them from really seeking help," Dr Maliangkay said.

The director of the Korean Suicide Prevention Centre, Dr Park Young-ki, says there needs to be greater emphasis on preventing problems in the community.

Dr Park says Korea's mental health system is primarily focused on treating those who are already suffering major mental illness.

"Korea psychologists don't want to mind about community," he said.

"They just screen the psychiatric patients in the hospital.

"We don't have any mental health professionals in the community, even though psychiatrists and psychologists are registered in Korea. So I think it is not easy, but we should change the system in the near future."

Anyone who feels that may be suffering from depression or anxiety is urged to seek professional help. Australians can call Lifeline, on 13 11 14.