Model Daul Kim, 20, who had worked for Chanel among others, was found hanged yesterday. She may have died by suicide. If so, she is the ninth Korean celebrity to take her own life in just over a year.

From the Associated Press:

In an Oct. 30 entry on her blog, Kim wrote she was "mad depressed and overworked," and in another entry said "the more i gain the more lonely it is ... i know i'm like a ghost." The last entry on her blog, dated Nov. 18, was titled "say hi to forever" and carried a video of the song "I Go Deep" by British singer Jim Rivers.

The next day her boyfriend found her dead in her Paris apartment and alerted police. In April this year actress Jang Ja-yeon committed suicide at home and left a seven-page letter describing sexual abuse she had to endure at the hands of those who controlled her career. The Guardian report from the time says that seven other South Korean celebrities had taken their own lives in the six months leading up to Jang's death.

Ahn Jae-hwan, a 36-year-old actor, was reportedly mired in debt. Choi Jin-sil, 39, was worried she had pressured Ahn into suicide. Model Kim Ji-hoo, 23, was harassed on the net after coming out. Singer Lee Seo-hyun, 30, was also under attack on the net over sexuality. Actor Kim Suk-gyun, 30, was said to have been depressed. Transgender actor Jang Chae-won, 26, left a suicide note online.

At the end of May this year the former Prime Minister President of the country, Roh Moo-Hyun leapt to his death from a hill behind his house. He was in the midst of a bribery scandal. His suicide note said:

I am in debt to too many people. Too many people have suffered because of me. And I cannot imagine the suffering they will go through in the future.

South Korea has the 11th highest suicide rate in the world, according to a report from the World Health Organization, based on 2006 figures (via Wikipedia).