Lee Jae-myung: "Families with Mental Illness Face Hell... It's Regrettable to Avoid Public Sector"

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung is speaking at the "Gyeonggi Province Mental Health Crisis Response Enhancement Forum" held on the afternoon of the 28th in the situation room of Gyeonggi Provincial Office in Suwon.

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, urged mental health officials in cities and counties to respond actively with a sense of mission, saying, "There should be no one who suffers unfairly due to avoidance and passive responses to suspected mental illness patients."

Governor Lee attended the 'Gyeonggi Province Mental Health Crisis Response Enhancement Forum' held at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Situation Room on the 28th and expressed concern, saying, "There are several reports that suicide rates surged after experiencing major social crises in the past," and "The economic situation will worsen further due to COVID-19, making it a very dangerous situation."

He added, "Measures have been put in place to prevent self-harm and harm to others by suspected mental illness patients along with suicide prevention, but unfortunate incidents are occurring as public officials avoid these due to concerns about complaints or lawsuits," and "I think if the public sector had faithfully done what it could, it might have reduced some of these cases."

Governor Lee emphasized, "If there is one person with a mental illness, their family is in hell. I ask cities and counties to actively engage so that those suffering from mental illness, their families, and members of society do not suffer unfairly," and "Gyeonggi Province will also actively support so that public officials do not suffer disadvantages such as being sued or investigated."

Accordingly, starting in October, Gyeonggi Province will operate a 'Public Transport Support Team' to prevent suspected mental illness patients who need diagnosis and treatment from being neglected due to transportation issues and unable to go to hospitals. The Gyeonggi Public Transport Support Team consists of four members, including general public officials and firefighters, and will support patient transport upon request from cities and counties.

Earlier, on the 26th, Governor Lee shared on his social media service (SNS) a post titled "Let's Live Without Dying," expressing concern over recent reports of increased self-harm, depression, and suicide after COVID-19, and revealed his own experience of making a 'choice not to make' during childhood.

According to Statistics Korea, the number of suicide deaths in Gyeonggi Province increased by 199 from 3,111 in 2018 to 3,310 in 2019. Also, the suicide rate per 100,000 population in the province rose by 1.2 from 24.2 to 25.4 during the same period.

Meanwhile, at the meeting, each city and county raised issues such as emergency hospitalization candidates having to wait long hours without immediate admission while undergoing COVID-19 tests, and the need for one-stop support for the economic and psychological crises of elderly people in rural areas. There were also opinions that budgets and investments in the mental health sector should be further expanded.

Lee Young-moon, Director of the National Center for Mental Health, suggested, "Since child abuse, elder abuse, and domestic violence are also connected to mental illness, integrated administration from children to the elderly is needed on a large scale," and "I hope Gyeonggi Province establishes governance that can comprehensively solve problems at the metropolitan level."

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