Gyeongnam Province Ranks 'Nationwide No.1' in Disaster Psychological Recovery Support

Gyeongsangnam-do Disaster Psychological Recovery Support Center.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Saeyan] Gyeongsangnam-do announced on the 6th that it was selected as the nationwide No. 1 in the 2020 National Disaster Psychological Recovery Support Evaluation conducted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, receiving top-tier evaluations for two consecutive years.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety evaluates eight indicators including annual counseling performance for disaster experiencers, securing and utilizing expert groups, and education performance.

In this evaluation, Gyeongsangnam-do scored 92 points, higher than the national average of 84 points, ranking first nationwide.

The province reported that it received uniformly good evaluations in areas such as expert personnel composition, budget securing and execution, publicity and education performance, cooperation with related organizations, and counseling performance.

Gyeongsangnam-do entrusts the Korean Red Cross Gyeongnam Branch to implement psychological counseling support projects targeting all experiencers including direct disaster victims and their families, witnesses, and relief participants.

Last year, a total of 592 psychological counseling sessions were conducted, including 430 cases of natural disasters such as summer flood damage and 162 cases of social disasters such as fires and traffic accidents.

In particular, when direct support was needed for flood damage and other cases, a Disaster Psychological Recovery Support Center was established on-site to help stabilize the victims' psychological state.

The province plans to expand expert personnel and continue specialized training to strengthen the quality of psychological recovery services.

Hwang Sang-eop, Director of the Natural Disaster Division, said, “In a situation where the frequency and scale of disasters are gradually increasing due to various factors such as climate change, disaster psychological recovery support is an essential project for building a social safety net,” and added, “We will strengthen services based on the results of this evaluation.”

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