Page 236 - 2018 Defense White Paper

[ Chart 6-2 ] Increase in Number of Professional Counselors by Year
(As of December 2018, unit: persons)
Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
No. of
95 148 207 246 297 346 383 383 522 660
Counselors

| Reinforcing the Suicide Prevention Capabilities of All Servicemembers | Suicides by
servicemembers undermine the combat power of the ROK Armed Forces and the people’s trust

toward them. To prevent servicemembers from taking their own lives, the MND is pursuing
efforts to turn each servicemember into gatekeepers in charge of preventing suicides. 3)
In addition, the MND trains and assigns instructors to battalion-level units, organizes suicide

prevention classes for servicemembers at least once every six months, and operates a prevention
system that consists of three phases: identif ication, management, and separation. As a result of
these continued efforts, the number of suicides in the military is declining.

[ Chart 6-3 ] Number of Suicide Prevention Instructors Trained by Year
(As of December 2018, unit: persons)
Year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
No. of
824 1,601 540 434 550 534 653 664 668 822 650
Instructors

Suicides continue to take place around us. In particular, in many cases, the deceased made the

choice because their colleagues were not aware of or did not take note of the signs that they
have shown.
The MND has outsourced the training to professional organizations in order to foster

professional instructors for soldiers. Currently, the MND is pursuing the development of training
contents tailored to the characteristics of each service. In addition, the MND is carrying out
itinerant education by area for commanders, staff, and other off icers in charge of commanding

and supervising a unit by utilizing professional instructors.
The MND will continue to enhance the suicide prevention capabilities of all servicemembers

3) Gatekeepers invest “continued interest” in looking for “signs” of suicide risks around them and “refer” those in
need of assistance to various resources (institutions and experts).

234 Chapter 6 Instilling a High-Morale Military Culture Trusted by the People