GS Caltex MaumTokTok Art Therapy, Embracing At-Risk Youth

Published 21 Oct.2021 16:43(KST)

On the 20th, Suncheon District Prosecutors' Office and Ewha Womans University Launch Crisis Youth Mind Talk Program

GS Caltex MaumTokTok Art Therapy, Embracing At-Risk Youth

[Yeosu=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Sim Kyung-taek] GS Caltex and the Suncheon Branch of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office held the opening ceremony for the '2021 Jeonnam Eastern Region At-Risk Youth Maum Toktok' program on the 20th and officially began its operation.

Maum Toktok is Korea's first child psychological and emotional art healing contribution activity, conducted by GS Caltex since 2013. GS Caltex, the Suncheon Branch, and the Jeonnam Eastern Region Youth Crime Prevention Committee under the Ministry of Justice signed the 'Jeonnam Eastern Region At-Risk Youth Maum Toktok Support Business Agreement' in 2016 and have been carrying out art healing projects for youth under probation or conditional suspension of indictment in the Jeonnam Eastern region, including Yeosu and Suncheon.

The Maum Toktok program was previously conducted face-to-face in groups of 5 to 6 at Yeulmaru in Yeosu City and the Youth Culture House in Suncheon City. However, this year, to prevent COVID-19 infection, it is conducted online (non-face-to-face), with about 10 youths participating once a week for 80 minutes each session over 12 sessions.

With the program shifting to an online format, geographical constraints have been overcome, allowing youths living in distant areas such as counties, townships, and towns within the Jeonnam Eastern region to freely participate, expanding beyond the previous focus on Yeosu and Suncheon areas.

Youths participating in the program experience psychological and emotional healing through music, including songwriting, composition, and instrument playing, under the guidance of music therapists from Ewha Womans University Graduate School. At the end of the year, they plan to perform the music they wrote and composed themselves online.

A representative from the Suncheon Branch stated, “The At-Risk Youth Maum Toktok program is an exemplary case of cooperation among government, industry, and academia for youth, effectively combining psychological healing rather than direct judicial punishment, corporate resource investment, and the use of university professional human resources to guide youth.”

A GS Caltex representative said, “We will continue to support youths, the future leaders, so that they can grow into healthy members of society with new courage and hope through energy release and psychological and emotional purification using music.”