By CNN
Publication Date: 2025-11-28 02:44:00
Editor’s note: Help is available if you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health issues.
In the US: Call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
Worldwide: The International Association for Suicide Prevention and Befrienders Worldwide have contact information for crisis centers around the world.
They have big, smiling eyes, prominent ears, and speak with the cheerful babble of a seven-year-old. Some wear pink dresses with pigtails; others wear blue shirts and bow ties. But these aren’t typical grandchildren. Made of cotton and metal, they are powered by AI and are a surprising answer to the mental health crisis of the elderly in South Korea.
About ten older adults die by suicide in South Korea every day.
The figure, from a sobering report published in the Journal of the Korean Medical Association in June 2025, reflects a persistent and alarming…
