“Please Hear the SOS Calls of Children”: Cheongsonyeon Geuruteogi Foundation Stands by Youth in Crisis

[Financial News] “When you pour water into a bean sprout tray, it seems to drain away quickly. But if you keep watering it, the sprouts will have grown before you know it. I think helping young people works the same way. Even if results are not immediately visible, we must continue to care and wait if it means one child can regain hope in life.”
Ahead of World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10, Jang Hee-sun, chief operating officer of the Cheongsonyeon Geuruteogi Foundation, emphasized during an interview at the foundation’s office in Seongbuk District, Seoul, that consistent attention and support must continue until young people facing difficulties are able to stand on their own again.
The mental health challenges facing adolescents can no longer be dismissed as problems affecting only individuals or their families. According to Statistics Korea, suicide has been the leading cause of death among Korean adolescents for 14 consecutive years. This is why society must continuously monitor young people in crisis, connect them with the help they need, and ensure that support does not end as a one-time intervention.
The Cheongsonyeon Geuruteogi Foundation provides tailored, close support to young people who fall through gaps in existing systems and assistance programs. The foundation’s name, “Geuruteogi,” comes from the part of a tree that remains in the ground after the tree is cut down and can sprout again. It represents the foundation’s commitment to staying by young people in difficulty so they can rest for a while and begin their lives anew. The foundation focuses on multicultural youth and young people preparing for independent living. It operates a specialized center for multicultural youth and their families to ease the isolation caused by language and cultural barriers. It also helps children build social relationships through cultural and artistic activities. For young people preparing for independent living, the foundation supports improvements to their housing conditions, one-on-one personalized mentoring for personal growth, and employment skills training so they can maintain stable lives after leaving residential care facilities.
Jang’s personal experience also influenced her emphasis on this kind of tailored support. She was a financial professional who worked in the financial sector for 13 years. She entered the welfare field after witnessing a suicide scene firsthand. After seeing the darker side of life, she began considering how people could be saved, studied child and adolescent welfare, and joined the founding team of the foundation. Drawing on her experience in finance, Jang has also worked to ensure transparency in the foundation’s operations. As a result of these efforts, the foundation was selected as one of the “2025 Outstanding Public-Service Corporations” announced by the National Tax Service (NTS). Jang stated, “Transparency must be secured for support for children in blind spots to become accurate and sustainable.”
The foundation’s activities focus on carefully assessing each young person’s circumstances and creating the changes they need. Min-young’s case, a pseudonym, is a representative example. Min-young, who grew up in a residential care facility after passing through a baby box, showed talent in the arts and physical education. However, she faced problems that were difficult to handle alone, including misconduct by an outside instructor, and even experienced urges to self-harm. “Because I had to fight alone,” Min-young said as she closed herself off. The foundation connected her with a new instructor and changed her educational environment. One year later, Min-young has overcome her urges to self-harm and is preparing to enter university while pursuing her dreams.
However, even when necessary support is available, it is difficult to provide appropriate help if young people in crisis are not identified in time. Depression and self-harm, once seen mainly among middle and high school students, have recently also appeared among elementary school students, lowering the age at which crises emerge and increasing the importance of early detection. Younger children may be less accustomed to recognizing their own difficulties or asking people around them for help, making early detection more challenging.
Jang said, “If they lack experience expressing their difficult circumstances accurately, they may be unable to ask for help directly. If they display behavior that differs from usual, such as giving away cherished belongings or suddenly becoming isolated, people around them should observe them carefully.” She added, “It is important to consider the child’s environment, relationships, and behavioral changes together. Above all, we must listen carefully to what the child has to say until the end.”
Jang advised that preventing adolescent suicide must begin with recognizing warning signs, continue by connecting young people with the help they need, and extend to staying by their side until they are able to stand again.
“The Cheongsonyeon Geuruteogi Foundation does not seek to live children’s lives for them. We seek to become a stump that encourages them until they gain the strength to stand again and helps their dreams take root. We will stay with them to the end so that not a single child gives up on life.”

[email protected] Seo Ji-yoon Reporter