Park Mijeong, Gwangju City Council Member, Calls for Specialized Disaster Healing Center

Proposal for a 'Self-Help Space' for Bereaved Families and Citizens
Suggestion to Establish a 'Safety Community'

Park Mijeong, a member of Gwangju Metropolitan Council, is delivering a "5-minute speech" at the 1st plenary session of the 330th extraordinary meeting held on the 4th. Provided by Gwangju Metropolitan Council

Park Mijeong, a member of the Gwangju City Council (Democratic Party of Korea, Dong-gu 2), urged the establishment of a specialized healing center for social disasters during a five-minute speech at the city council's plenary session on the 4th.

Recently, following the December 3 Martial Law incident, a major catastrophe occurred with the Jeju Air passenger plane accident, leaving not only survivors and bereaved families but also the entire society in shock.

In response, the central government is supporting bereaved families through institutions such as the Honam Trauma Center, and Gwangju City is providing support by operating the Gwangju Psychological Support Group and linking it with the 'Gwangju-daum Integrated Care' service.

Park pointed out, "The Honam Trauma Center is not easily accessible, and it is difficult for the National Trauma Center, which mainly serves victims of state violence such as the May 18 incident, to support accident victims." She added, "'Gwangju-daum Integrated Care' mostly provides cleaning, laundry, meal preparation, short-distance accompaniment, and child care, so it has limitations in healing psychological pain."

She continued, "In the case of the Sewol Ferry disaster, there were cases of extreme choices more than a year after the accident," and asserted, "It is necessary to establish a self-help space that can provide long-term support for the psychological healing of bereaved families and citizens who have experienced similar disasters."

She especially emphasized, "The most important thing in overcoming social disasters is to recognize the pain of the bereaved as a social pain and to share that suffering together," stressing the need for long-term post-trauma management.

Park proposed, "Taking this passenger plane accident as an opportunity, I request the establishment and operation of a social disaster healing center so that bereaved families who have suffered severe damage from unexpected social disasters can overcome their trauma and citizens can share their grief through sharing, solidarity, and communication."

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