Page 269 - 2020 Defence White Paper

counseling and therapy for servicemembers who are experiencing difficulties. In
addition, the MND continues to extend the scope of counseling through the National
Defense Help Call Center, which provides counseling and receives reports 24/7 and
operates various complaint reporting and management programs to identify and deal
with diff culties in a rapid, precise manner.
The MND, together with the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA),
plans to take a more preventive approach to the issue by improving the reliability
of the personality test, supplement the education system for enhanced expertise
of professional counselors in barracks, and scientifically analyze the counseling
details of the National Defense Help Call Center to use them as data for preventing
accidents.

[Chart 7-2] Average Number of Daily Counseling Sessions at National Defense Help
Call Center
(As of November 2020, unit: cases)
Year 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
No.
of Sessions 47 111 159 176 170 134 159
As of September 1, 2018, public cyber counseling sessions are no longer available for the protection of

servicemembers’ privacy.
[Chart 7-3] Increase in Number of Professional Counselors by Year
(As of 2020, unit: persons) Chapter 7

Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
No. of Counselors 95 148 207 246 297 346 383 383 522 633

Reinforcing the Suicide Prevention In order to prevent noncombat casual-
1)
Capabilities of Servicemembers ties and protect precious lives, the A person who discovers
those at risk of suicide
MND strives to ensure that all ser- early and enables them
to receive counseling
1)
vicemembers serve as "Gate-Keepers" in charge of preventing suicides. To this end, and treatment from a
professional agency
the MND produces tailored educational content of "see-listen-talk" certif ed by the (professional counselor
2)
Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) and offers suicide prevention education at in barracks) and provides
management and support
least semiannually with suicide prevention instructors. The MND also operates an to prevent any suicide
attempts by those at risk of
integrated suicide prevention system that consists of three phases–identification, suicide in an emergency.
management, and separation–to help servicemembers adapt to the military service 2)
Educational content to
and prevent suicide. In cooperation with the Military Manpower Administration "see" signs of suicide for
those at risk of suicide, to
(MMA) and MOHW, the MND provides continuous treatment to servicemembers "listen" to their thoughts
and to "talk" to give them
who had been discharged early due to maladjustment to military service as a result advice.

Chapter 7. Embedding an Inclusive Culture in the Military: With the People, Trusted by the People