Life Insurance Foundation Distributes Pesticide Safety Storage Boxes to 1,980 Households in Gimje-si, Jeonbuk for 5 Consecutive Years

The Life Insurance Foundation delivered 300 pesticide safety storage boxes at the 2020 Pesticide Safety Storage Box Distribution Project held on Friday, the 3rd, in Gimje-si, Jeonbuk.
(Left: Park Jun-bae, Mayor of Gimje; Right: Song Ki-jung, Executive Director of the Life Insurance Social Contribution Foundation)

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] On the 3rd, the Life Insurance Social Contribution Foundation held a Life-Love Green Village plaque ceremony in Gimje-si, Jeollabuk-do, and delivered pesticide safety storage boxes to 300 households in 19 villages. At the plaque ceremony, Park Jun-bae, Mayor of Gimje, Song Ki-jung, Executive Director of the Life Insurance Social Contribution Foundation, and Park Jin, Secretary General of the Korea Suicide Prevention Association, joined forces to prevent suicide in rural communities.

According to Statistics Korea, the number of suicide deaths in Gimje-si, Jeollabuk-do, sharply increased from 35 in 2015 to 47 in 2016, but then decreased to 42 in 2017 and 36 in 2018. Gimje-si is a representative agricultural city in Honam and ranks third in the Jeonbuk region after Iksan and Jeongeup in terms of dense farming households. It is an area requiring the establishment of a social safety net and community management to prevent suicide by pesticide ingestion due to the aging rural population.

Accordingly, the Life Insurance Foundation has distributed pesticide safety storage boxes to 1,680 households in Gimje-si from 2016 through last year, and this year delivered boxes to 300 households. Over five years, the foundation plans to distribute pesticide safety storage boxes to 1,980 households across 90 villages. It supports the establishment of a culture that respects life by cooperating with local governments and residents.

The Life Insurance Foundation and Gimje-si appointed local residents as Life-Love Guardians to regularly inspect the use of pesticide safety storage boxes and to enable early detection of high-risk suicide groups. Additionally, the cooperating institution, Gimje-si Regional Mental Health Center, operates monthly visiting mental health counseling services by village, manages high-risk residents intensively, and provides treatment linkage services such as supporting mental health medical expenses.

Song Ki-jung, Executive Director of the Life Insurance Foundation, stated, “Thanks to the cooperation between Jeonbuk Gimje-si and the Korea Suicide Prevention Association, as well as the active cooperation of local residents, the suicide trend in Jeonbuk Gimje-si has entered a downward trend. We will continue to work closely with Jeonbuk Gimje-si to foster a culture that values life.”

Meanwhile, the Life Insurance Foundation has supported pesticide safety storage boxes for a total of 1,999 households in Jeonbuk areas including Gimje, Jeongeup, Namwon, and Wanju, and plans to distribute pesticide safety storage boxes to a total of 8,300 households in 19 cities and counties nationwide, including Jeonbuk, by August.

The Life Insurance Foundation is a public interest corporation established in 2007 through a joint agreement among 20 life insurance companies including Samsung Life, Kyobo Life, and Hanwha Life. Through its four main purpose projects?support for overcoming aging, support for resolving low birth rates, support for respecting life, and suicide prevention support?it carries out various specialized projects to address welfare blind spots in our society.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.