SK Launches 'Youth Mental Health Counseling Bus' Initiative

SK Group. On the 13th, Youth Mental Health Guardian Bus Test Ride Ceremony at Jeonnam Provincial Government Plaza

Choi Tae-won (far right), Chairman of SK Group, is having a discussion about support for at-risk youth with Kim Hyun-sook (far left), Minister of Gender Equality and Family, and others at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry's New Corporate Spirit Council (ERT) 'Sharing Together Project' event held last April at the Gyeonggi Southern Youth Independence Support Center in Gunpo-si, Gyeonggi-do. Photo by SK

SK Group has launched the operation of the 'Youth Mental Health Guardian' bus to support the independence of at-risk youth who have been pushed out of their homes and schools.

On the 13th, SK Group held a test ride ceremony for the 'Youth Mental Health Guardian' bus at the Jeonnam Provincial Government Plaza in Muan-gun, Jeollanam-do, and announced the start of outreach counseling services targeting at-risk youth in the region. The event was attended by Kim Hyun-sook, Minister of Gender Equality and Family, Kim Young-rok, Governor of Jeonnam, Cho Kyung-mok, Chairman of the SK Supex Council SV Committee, and local youth.

This counseling bus program was launched as part of the second 'Sharing Together Project' for supporting the independence of at-risk youth by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry's New Enterprise Spirit Council (ERT) in April. SK Group, Shinhan Bank, and Ediya Coffee participated in this project. At-risk youth refers to young people who do not receive adequate protection from guardians or require support to prevent delinquency.

At that time, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won personally visited the Southern Gyeonggi Youth Independence Support Center in Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province, emphasizing that "At-risk youth are often unable to receive proper support due to social prejudices labeling them as troublemakers, making societal attention and support urgently needed."

Since then, SK Group has been conducting projects to support the independence of at-risk youth, including providing happiness lunchboxes to youth using independence support centers (worth 300 million KRW) and offering customized jobs such as internships at youth welfare facilities (worth 400 million KRW).

Following this, from today, SK Group has provided a total of five counseling buses worth approximately 800 million KRW to operate the Youth Mental Health Guardian buses in cooperation with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and local governments. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in youth reporting psychological and emotional difficulties, and the initiative aims to visit youth who show signs of mental health issues to provide tailored counseling.

The counseling buses will visit residential areas including islands and remote regions, apartment complexes, schools, and areas with high youth populations. The buses are staffed with youth counselors and mentors who conduct counseling sessions and offer various activity programs such as virtual reality (VR) experiences and personality type tests. They will also be equipped with items such as phone chargers, Wi-Fi, and snacks.

The counseling buses began operating in Jeollanam-do, which has the highest number of islands and remote areas, and plan to gradually expand operations to five regions including Daejeon Metropolitan City, Sejong Special Self-Governing City, Chungcheongbuk-do, and Gyeongsangnam-do by next year.

Minister Kim Hyun-sook of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said, "I am very pleased that the operation of the Youth Mental Health Guardian buses will allow us to carefully attend to the mental health of youth who usually have difficulty accessing counseling services."

SV Committee Chairman Cho Kyung-mok said, "We are honored that SK Group, as a member of our society, is contributing to helping at-risk youth regain psychological and emotional stability and, furthermore, providing hope and opportunities."

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