LG and Doosan take the lead in supporting family care and nursing care during Family Month.

Koo Kwang-mo, Chairman of LG Group. [Image Source=Yonhap News]

On the 3rd, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s New Entrepreneurial Spirit Association (ERT) visited the Seodaemun Comprehensive Social Welfare Center to discuss the need for social attention to family care and support, and announced the support details from the two groups. On this day, Chairman Choi Tae-won of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, along with Chairman Koo Kwang-mo of LG Group and Chairman Park Jeong-won of Doosan Group, visited the care welfare site. Also present were Lee Ki-il, Vice Minister of Health and Welfare; Kang Cheol-won, Vice Mayor of Seoul Metropolitan Government; and Jo Sang-mi, Director of the Central Social Welfare Institute.

This visit was planned as part of the ‘All Together Sharing Project’ by ERT, which sympathizes with the need for family care and support, and supported the fireman’s welfare (1st phase), crisis youth independence (2nd phase), and regional child care infra (3rd phase) last year as the representative practical projects of ERT companies for solving social issues.

The issue of care and support has recently emerged as a serious social problem due to economic and psychological problems caused by long-term family care, with extreme cases such as ‘care murder’. When there is a family member with a serious illness such as cancer or dementia, not only do they face direct costs such as medical expenses and care expenses but also many face difficulties in balancing care and household chores in their daily lives.

Doosan Group decided to continue supporting caregivers for children and adolescents with 1 billion KRW annually nationwide. The support funds will be provided for young carers aged 13 to 34 who continue their studies while caring for adult family members with illnesses or disabilities, and will be used for family care, medical expenses, creating a learning environment, renovating housing facilities and heating/cooling systems. Young carers are responsible for caring for the seriously ill and disabled family members and are also known as family caregivers. Doosan’s support includes not only economic assistance but also content that nurtures the mental health of young carers experiencing adolescence. A ‘Young Carer Coordinator’ composed of social workers will communicate with young carers constantly to provide counseling and check necessary contents for school and home life.

LG Group will support 1.5 billion KRW worth of residential spaces with 6 rooms in family shelters at 2 locations in Seoul for families with pediatric cancer patients. With this donation, LG handed over 1.5 billion KRW in donations to the Korean Pediatric Leukemia Children’s Foundation, which operates family shelters where pediatric cancer patients and guardians can stay. The Korean Pediatric Leukemia Children’s Foundation plans to open 6 new family shelters near Daehangno and the Gyodae area with this donation. The 6 shelters can accommodate a total of about 4,000 pediatric cancer patients and guardians annually. The Korean Pediatric Leukemia Children’s Foundation has been operating family shelters providing temporary accommodation for pediatric cancer patients and caregivers residing in rural areas. However, the facilities were insufficient compared to the demand, with only about 20% of applying families able to use the shelters. With LG’s donation this time, the existing 11 family shelters will increase to a total of 17.

Park Il-jun, Vice Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, emphasized the need for support, stating, “It may not be easy to prioritize the various social issues in our society, but family care and support have become an area that cannot be delayed any longer,” and “As shown in the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s survey, the majority of the people in the country (75.0%) have actually experienced family care, and they felt a great burden on medical expenses, care expenses, and the burden of balancing care and household chores (52.5%).”