Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon Visits Daegu Smile Center Policy Site

On the 17th, Han Dong-hoon, Minister of Justice, visited the Daegu Smile Center from 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM.

On-site, related agency officials including Noh Jeong-yeon, Chief Prosecutor of Daegu High Prosecutors' Office, and Oh Soon-taek, Chairman of the Daegu·Gyeongbuk Crime Victim Support Center, attended together.

During this visit, Minister Han inspected the support status for daily recovery such as psychological support for crime victims and encouraged clinical psychology experts responsible for psychological treatment of crime victims as well as center officials. Afterwards, he took time to listen to the needs for improvement and difficulties in victim support.

The Smile Center is a trauma healing institution that helps crime victims and their families who have suffered mental shock due to violent crimes such as murder, robbery, violence, sexual violence, and arson to return to their daily lives.

The institution provides integrated services including professional counseling and systematic psychological healing by psychiatrists and clinical psychology experts, linkage with related agencies, and legal support.

Starting with the establishment of the Seoul Dongbu Smile Center in 2010, currently 16 Smile Centers and a general support group are in operation.

The Daegu Smile Center recently provided psychological counseling and group therapy to victims of the ‘attempted murder and sexual assault of a woman in a one-room apartment’ incident that occurred in Daegu.

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon (third from the right in the back row) and officials from the Daegu Smile Center are taking a group commemorative photo.

At the meeting, Minister Han said, “This is my second visit to Daegu related to crime victims since visiting the joint memorial altar for victims of the Daegu law office arson incident in June last year.”

Minister Han added, “Although some citizens may have forgotten after one year and five months, the victims’ families have been living in pain then, now, and will continue to do so in the future,” and emphasized, “Supporting victims and protecting them from crime is the government’s greatest mission.”

He continued, “On the 15th, we signed a business agreement with Seoul City to provide various supports physically in one place through the ‘One-Stop Solution Center,’” and stressed, “We will operate the Seoul One-Stop Center as a model so that a One-Stop Solution Center can be established in the Daegu area as well.”

The Ministry of Justice stated that it will continuously contemplate and strive to ensure practical support and recovery for crime victims.