Charcoal briquette producer torn as cheap source of warmth increasingly used for suicides
Published: 15 Apr. 2026, 07:00
![A person lights a charcoal briuette at GNC, a quick-light charcoal briquette factory located in Jecheon, North Chungcheong. [JOONGANG ILBO]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/15/59b87fd3-bb39-49d0-86b1-4ddaf7505a46.jpg)
A person lights a charcoal briuette at GNC, a quick-light charcoal briquette factory located in Jecheon, North Chungcheong. [JOONGANG ILBO]
“Every time I hear that the charcoal briquettes we made were used for suicide, I wonder if I should shut down the company,” said 58-year-old Kim Hyun-eung, who has operated briquette producer GNC in Jecheon, North Chungcheong, for 17 years.
“Charcoal briquettes used to serve well as kindling for camping fires and heating coal briquettes, but at some point, it came to be seen only as kindling for death.”
Charcoal briquettes — known as beongaetan in Korean — have often been associated with suicide in Korea. Due to their easy accessibility and low cost, often priced at around 1,000 won ($0.66) for one, they have become a commonly used means in suicide attempts.
To reduce Korea’s suicide rate, which remains among the highest in the world, the government established the “Pan-government Life Protection Promotion Task Force” under the Office for Government Policy Coordination on Dec. 24 last year.
The task force has focused on measures to prevent the misuse of charcoal briquettes.
“Ultimately, all I can do is trust the government and actively cooperate with related policies,” Kim said.
When searching for charcoal briquettes on Naver, one of Korea’s largest online platforms, the related search term “death” appears at the top.
Unlike coal briquettes, charcoal briquettes ignite more quickly because they are designed with ignition agents, allowing them to catch fire easily with a lighter or match and produce strong heat rapidly. Burning them emits carbon monoxide, which can lead to poisoning and ultimately death.
The late “Parasite” (2019) actor Lee Sun-kyun was reportedly found with a charcoal briquette at the scene of his death.
![Yoon Chang-yul, director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, speaks at a business agreement ceremony between the pan-government Life Protection Promotion Task Force and the retail industry for life respect and suicide prevention campaign at the Government Complex Seoul in Jongno District, central Seoul, on March 18. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/15/fba406c6-4f2a-400d-8d96-21c77062385b.jpg)
Yoon Chang-yul, director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, speaks at a business agreement ceremony between the pan-government Life Protection Promotion Task Force and the retail industry for life respect and suicide prevention campaign at the Government Complex Seoul in Jongno District, central Seoul, on March 18. [YONHAP]
Task force officials visited Kim’s factory in Jecheon on Feb. 20, where Song Min-seop, head of the task force, shared data on carbon monoxide poisoning deaths and discussed prevention measures with Kim.
One in four people who die by suicide use gas poisoning, including from charcoal briquettes, according to the task force.
“In 2024 alone, 3,525 people died from carbon monoxide poisoning, a figure that has increased 2.2 times over the past two years,” the task force said to Kim. “This accounted for 24 percent of the total 14,872 suicide deaths in the same year.”
In fact, a family of five was found dead in a multi-unit housing building in Ulju County, Ulsan, on March 18. Signs of a burned charcoal briquette were found at the scene.
![Tubes shaped like “109,” the suicide prevention hotline number, are floated on the Han River in Seoul in January 2025. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/15/377c8da9-20d9-454b-9a11-895612eaa6c1.jpg)
Tubes shaped like “109,” the suicide prevention hotline number, are floated on the Han River in Seoul in January 2025. [YONHAP]
“Such statistics and cases heavily weigh on me,” Kim told the JoongAng Ilbo on April 2, marking 100 days since the task force was launched. “Wouldn’t it mean that some of those who died by suicide used our product?”
“It is especially painful to know that our product is used in tragedies involving young people or entire families.”
Kim added bitterly, “Someone I knew used our product to end their life, and hearing that made me feel as if I wanted to die as well.”
Charcoal briquettes once played an essential role in everyday life in the 1970s and 1980s, providing fuel for cooking and heating. However, the industry declined as city gas and oil boilers became widespread. Charcoal briquettes are now often used during camping, grilling or other outdoor activities because they ignite quickly.
![Workers load coal briquettes onto a truck for delivery at a briquette factory in Dongdaemun District, eastern Seoul, on Nov.13, 2020. [JOONGANG ILBO]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/15/a1bb3519-876e-4a39-9e60-8c991ef783e8.jpg)
Workers load coal briquettes onto a truck for delivery at a briquette factory in Dongdaemun District, eastern Seoul, on Nov.13, 2020. [JOONGANG ILBO]
Kim said there were around 100 charcoal briquette-producing factories nationwide more than a decade ago, but the industry has since declined, with now only two remaining, including Kim's.
“Our factory’s revenue has also been on a downward trend for 17 years, along with the industry’s decline,” the factory owner said, adding that the factory’s daily output has dropped sharply from producing more than 100,000 charcoal briquettes to about 20,000.
Despite the decline, Kim continues to operate the factory because demand still exists, saying it is “still an essential item somewhere at the margins of society.”
“Particularly, those living in small, low-cost housing who struggle to pay out heating fuel costs, coal briquettes and instant-lighting charcoal briquettes are their only source of heating,” Kim said.
Kim’s goal is to “improve the product’s image before it disappears.” Kim has spent tens of millions of won of his own money to print the suicide prevention hotline number 109 on charcoal briquette packaging. Although the Office for Government Policy Coordination recently began producing and distributing life-respect stickers, Kim has taken similar steps proactively for the past decade.
![A citizen walks past mirror-installed suicide prevention railings on Mapo Bridge in western Seoul on Sept. 10, 2025. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/15/a5b606a7-f698-42fa-9cca-4d9690daf1be.jpg)
A citizen walks past mirror-installed suicide prevention railings on Mapo Bridge in western Seoul on Sept. 10, 2025. [NEWS1]
The task force has also recommended measures to reduce impulse purchases in the retail sector, including keeping charcoal briquettes off store shelves and selling them only upon request.
Though Kim knows such distribution restrictions would inevitably affect manufacturers, he said that there is no choice but to cooperate with government policies, given the heavy social responsibility he feels.
“If it can be replaced with another product that cannot be misused, it may be time for the government to consider policies to gradually reduce the production of quick-light charcoal briquettes,” Kim carefully said.
A task force official also said Kim had repeatedly expressed that it “may be time to close the business” during discussions.
Standing beside burning briquettes at the factory, Kim said, “I hope that quick-light charcoal briquettes, which may soon disappear, will be remembered not as something that causes harm, but as something that provided warmth.”
If you or someone you know is feeling emotionally distressed or struggling with thoughts of suicide, LifeLine Korea can be contacted at 1588-9191 or the Crisis Counseling Center at 1577-0199. The Seoul Global Center offers English-language counseling; call 02-2075-4180 (+1) to arrange a session. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HAN CHAN-WOO [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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