Samsung Saves Youth Lives... Wins Minister of Education Award for Safeguarding Mental Health of 47,000 Teens

Fostering a Culture of Life Respect in Schools Through the 'Likie Project'
Samsung: "Metropolitan Education Office Halved Suicide Cases in Just One Year"
'Lime' Counseling for Out-of-School Youth... Crisis Counseling More Than Doubled in a Year
Hong Wonhak: "Supporting the Spread of a Culture of Life Respect and Protection of Youth Mental Health"

Samsung Financial Networks announced on January 15 that it had received the Minister of Education Award for its contribution to improving the mental health of more than 47,000 young people through its three-year youth life-saving corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.

A college student mentor participating in Samsung Financial Networks' 'Likie Project' is conducting a 'Mind Protection Training' session for middle school students. Samsung Financial

On this day, Samsung Financial held the first 'Life Respect Impact Day' at the Samsung Financial Campus in Seocho-gu, Seoul. The event was organized to share the achievements of the youth life respect initiative and to raise public awareness of the issue.

The event was attended by Minister of Education Choi Kyojin, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Youngbae, People Power Party lawmaker Kim Yeji, Cho Kuk Innovation Party lawmaker Baek Sunhee, Samsung Life Insurance President and CEO Hong Wonhak, LifeLine Korea Director Ha Sanghoon, and about 200 participants in the life respect program. Samsung Life Insurance received the Minister of Education Award on behalf of Samsung Financial.

Minister Choi stated, "Youth mental health is a core issue that all members of society must address together," adding, "We will work to spread a culture of life respect so that young people can develop their abilities freely in a healthier and safer environment, without having to face mental crises alone."

The event also featured presentations of outstanding cases in life respect activities, conducted by participants of the 'Likie Project' and 'Lime' counselors in November last year. Cases were shared by category, including Likie mentors, teachers, and counselors.

Likie is a project aimed at fostering a culture of life respect within schools. This project has made tangible contributions to youth suicide prevention. According to Samsung Life Insurance, an education office in the Seoul metropolitan area saw the number of suicide cases within its jurisdiction decrease by about half after introducing Likie compared to the previous year.

Kim Yongjae, Director of the Life Respect Office at Samsung Life Insurance, explained, "Last year, at the request of an education office in the metropolitan area, we supported the Likie project, and received feedback from officials that suicide cases in their district had dropped by about 50% compared to the previous year. As a result, we have decided to continue the project in this region for the next three years."

'Lime' is a counseling channel for out-of-school youth. In addition to professional counseling, it helps young people quickly receive police or fire rescue assistance in crisis situations through social networking services (SNS), chat, voice, or video connections.

Lime is unique in that, unlike other organizations, the same counselor can continue counseling a student up to eight times. This enables a deep trust to form between counselor and student. According to Samsung Financial, the number of Lime counseling sessions last year was 11,757, a 56% increase from the previous year's 7,523 sessions. Notably, the number of 'crisis counseling' cases, a key indicator, surged 164% from 781 to 2,065 during the same period.

Director Kim commented, "The success of a counseling channel ultimately depends on the competence of its counselors. We are investing heavily in counselor training so that young people in need will want to return to the Lime program and seek out Samsung counselors again."

Samsung Financial emphasized that the event was not simply an awards ceremony for social contribution, but a forum to widely promote the importance of protecting youth mental health and to broaden social consensus. President Hong stated, "The first 'Life Respect Impact Day' was a moment to reaffirm the essential value of the life respect initiative and marks a new starting point for strengthening youth mental health protection. We will continue to support the healthy establishment of a culture of life respect for youth in schools and communities through the 'Likie Project' and 'Lime'."