[Exclusive] Yoon: "Also Consider Drug Addiction Treatment"... 'Comprehensive Mental Health Plan' to Be Released

Yoon Warns of Drug Recidivism, "Addict Treatment Must Be Addressed Separately"
Now Approaching as a Mental Health Issue... "Currently Reviewing Comprehensively"
Focus on Rapid Increase in Drug and Suicide Cases Among Younger Age Groups

The Presidential Office has begun a comprehensive review of issues arising from mental illnesses and mental health damages such as drug addiction and suicide. Since the effectiveness of the related ministries' measures, which had been managed mainly on a 'containment' basis, has been declining, they now intend to address these issues from a mental health perspective. The Presidential Office plans to announce a 'Comprehensive Mental Health Plan' soon.

According to the Presidential Office and government ministries on the 13th, President Yoon recently warned about the drug recidivism rate and instructed to "separately examine addiction treatment and addiction issues." With the scope of drug damage expanding, such as the 'drug beverage' incident in the Daechi-dong academy district, there is a judgment that a management system relying solely on investigation and crackdown could become unbalanced. A senior official from the Presidential Office elaborated, "The core is that addiction treatment for repeat offenders is important to eradicate drug problems, and all related work instructions have already been delivered."

The Presidential Office itself has embarked on establishing a comprehensive mental health plan that includes not only drug addiction but also suicide issues. This is because existing methods have not been effective in preventing and managing social problems caused by mental damage. The key is to change the approach and build a support system for the mental health of the people. The official said, "We are first comprehensively reviewing related measures, including drug recidivism and suicide rates."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This also reflects the situation where drug recidivism and suicide rates are difficult to manage. Regarding the drug recidivism rate, which President Yoon personally warned about, it has not dropped below the 30-40% range for several years. Among 2,300 drug repeat offenders caught in 2021, nearly half?45%?were found to have committed drug crimes again.

The suicide rate is similar. According to the '2023 Suicide Prevention Fact Sheet' released last month by the Life Respect Citizens' Association, South Korea's suicide rate (24.1 per 100,000 population in 2020) ranks first among 42 OECD countries. Despite government and local governments investing budgets and introducing prevention measures, the number of suicide deaths is increasing, with the average daily suicide deaths in South Korea (as of 2021) at 36.6, up 1.2 percentage points from the previous year.

The Presidential Office is also paying attention to the fact that both drug and suicide problems are increasing among younger age groups. According to the Youth Health Behavior Survey conducted by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on 54,840 adolescents, the youth suicide attempt rate in 2021 was 2.2%, up 0.2 percentage points from the previous year. Suicide is also the leading cause of death among teenagers. The proportion of drug offenders aged 10 to 20 increased 2.4 times in just five years, from 15.8% in 2017 to 34.2% in 2022. In particular, with the rise of SNS and overseas direct purchase cases among teenagers, the number of teenage drug offenders increased fourfold from 119 in 2017 to 481 in 2022.

Aligned with the Presidential Office, related ministries and affiliated organizations are also taking action. The National Mental Health Center has begun preparations to establish a comprehensive mental health organization for drug treatment and rehabilitation. The goal is to design a system that guides drug addicts from detection to treatment at medical institutions through judicial measures. Internally, a full survey will be conducted on 21 specialized drug addiction treatment hospitals nationwide and non-designated institutions with treatment records.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare has launched a suicide status survey. The survey will segment subjects by gender, age, education level, occupation, income, etc., to examine causes, including changes in media and surrounding people, and will also evaluate previous government measures. The survey results will be shared immediately with the Presidential Office and related agencies to serve as basic data for establishing new alternatives. A Presidential Office official said, "It is also the government's responsibility to take care of the mental health of the people, and now we will change the approach to address related social problems. We will also take time to explain to the public by synthesizing various surveys and opinions."

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