South Korean reality show under fire after contestant commits suicide

A top South Korean television station is facing a storm of media criticism following the shock suicide of a female contestant on its popular reality matchmaking show.

The contestant on Jjak (The Mate) - a show aired on Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS), one of the South's top three TV stations - was found dead on Wednesday during a week-long production shoot at a guesthouse in the southern island of Jeju.

Jjak puts about 10 men and women in the same guesthouse, dubbed "Lovetown", for a week while they are filmed by TV crew and surveillance cameras.

The participants, clad in matching uniforms, are put through various physical challenges in hopes of getting a date out of one of their fellow contestants, before making a final choice at the end of the week.

Since its debut in 2011, the show has made a name out of putting participants through the emotional wringer, forcing them to eat alone outside when rejected by the date of their choice.

"The Lovetown ends in tragedy," ran the headline in the Dong-A Ilbo newspaper, which interviewed past participants who spoke of feeling bullied and humiliated.

Chun's mother told the JoongAng Ilbo daily that in their last phone conversation her daughter had said she would not be able to live in South Korea if the show was aired.
Friends quoted by the newspaper said Chun had also complained that the producers were trying to depict her as an unpopular, "tragic girl".

Seoul's top daily, the Chosun Ilbo, highlighted text messages Chun had exchanged with friends saying the producers had shot "too many scenes of me being alone ... to highlight matched couples".

Croissant wrote:FFS don't let Keith read this.

Guest wrote:Sorry Ben, I'm a manic depressive AKA bi-polar plus a few other issues thrown in for good measure.  On Sertraline and Lithium Carbonate but now and again I plummet and end up in hospital.