BUSAN — Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo is meeting suicide prevention field workers, including a counselor who has volunteered in crisis counseling for 44 years. The visit is aimed at moving beyond administration-led suicide prevention policy to strengthen cooperation with private organizations that detect warning signs on the ground around the clock.
Jeon visited Busan Life Line on the afternoon of Oct. 1, touring counseling rooms and other facilities and hearing a briefing on its suicide prevention work. He then held a roundtable with volunteer counselors to discuss difficulties they face in the field and how the city should support private-sector suicide prevention activities.
Yoo Soon-deok, a counselor at Busan Life Line, received the Proud Citizen Award, the top honor in the volunteer service category, at a ceremony marking Busan Citizens' Day the same day. Yoo has volunteered as a counselor for 44 years, and her cumulative service hours passed 10,000 this year. Jeon also met Yoo and other long-serving volunteers in person to encourage their work.
Founded in 1978, Busan Life Line operates a counseling system running 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with about 200 volunteer counselors and 13 life-respect instructors. Beyond crisis counseling for people at risk of suicide, the organization also works to promote a culture of respect for life and provides suicide prevention education.
The city has designated this year as the "first year of respect for life" and is pursuing suicide prevention as a key policy priority. Because the public sector alone cannot identify every resident in crisis, the city plans to strengthen ties with private suicide prevention organizations and improve its on-the-ground response system.
"Suicide prevention cannot be completed by the power of administration alone," Jeon said. "We will support the work of volunteers who have protected lives for many years and strengthen cooperation with private organizations."
