Cheil Worldwide signed an
agreement this month with Samsung Medical Center and Korea Hana Foundation to
launch ‘Soulmate’. The project, which aims to help North Korean defectors regain their mental
health, will officially launch in March.
Last year, Cheil Worldwide
launched a smartphone app called ‘South Korean – North Korean Translator’ to
help North Korean student defectors with differences in language between the
two countries that have been divided for more than 60 years.
Escalating the campaign, Cheil
Worldwide kick starts the 'Soulmate' project to support treatment of psychological
impediments suffered by many North Korean defectors. The project extends
the essence of the initial campaign: helping defector’s settlement in South
Korea. A campaign which started from an app to help language settlement is
being further developed as a collaborative project to support emotional
settlement.
Cheil Worldwide staff who
had developed South Korean – North Korean Translator came up with the idea as they
were looking for ways to utilize prize money received from the
company for winning Bronze at Cannes Lions 2015. Staff donated their prize
money and the company donated a matching amount for Soulmate’s fund-raising.
The project name ‘Soulmate’ derives from ‘Word mate’ which is the Korean name
of the South Korean – North Korean Translator.
Many North Korean
defectors are in need of counselling to recover from mental health issues caused by extreme stress and trauma. According to a survey by the Ministry of
Unification and Korea Hana Foundation, conducted among 2,000 North Korean
defectors, 20.9% of respondents thought of dying because of the harsh
conditions they face. The ratio was 3 times that of South Korean’s average 6.8%.
“Student defectors who were
exposed to unordinary experience and environment have difficulties in adapting
to school life and establishing relationships with peers,” said professor Yoo-Sook
Jung at Social Mental Health Institute, Samsung Medical Center. “A systematic
psychic counselling and psychotherapy is necessary.”
Cheil Worldwide’s Soulmate
project aims at providing more professional programs to take care of defector’s
mental health. Specialists from Samsung Medical Center’s Social Mental Health
Institute will develop psychotherapy and education programs, and also support
diagnosis and treatment depending on the symptoms of defectors. Korea Hana
Foundation, a public institute to help settlement of North Korean defectors,
will serve as a liaison between the schools for young defectors and the Soulmate
project.
Soulmate project is a total
solution program that student defectors, their parents and teachers all
participate in as one. For students, a separate curriculum on mental health
will be set up, and through cooperation with parents and schools, psychotherapy
will take place for students in need. Moreover, school teachers will be taught
about psychoeducation method so the schools which participated in the project
can consistently take care of student defector’s mental health.
Since the trauma treatment
for defectors is more effective at a younger age, students in elementary schools
will be the first to benefit from this program. The project will officially
launch in March, starting from alternative schools with a high percentage of
elementary school students, and will expand to other alternative middle and
high schools gradually.
“We hope that the Soulmate project
will help healthy growth of student defectors and play the role of a touchstone
for education on unification through collaboration with parents and teachers
altogether,” said Daiki Lim, President of Cheil Worldwide.