EPICANTHUS

While the recession has scattered its distress widely, without regard for nationality, many Koreans and Korean-Americans in the New York area worry that it is taking a particularly heavy toll on their community.

The number of suicides reported to the local Korean Consulate General has more than doubled this year, to 15 from 6 last year, and there were 5 in 2007. All of the dead were Korean citizens, said the consulate, which does not keep statistics on Korean-Americans. The latest suicide came on Dec. 15, when a woman in her early 30s hanged herself in her home in Flushing, Queens, the consulate said.

Read Kirk Semple’s New York Times piece on the Korean suicide surge here.