[DigitalToday reporter Ji-young Lee] KB Kookmin Bank is moving to build a safety net that links youth drug prevention education with counselling and treatment support.

Ahead of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, KB Kookmin Bank on Wednesday announced key results of its youth drug misuse prevention education project.

KB Kookmin Bank has sponsored the “Sangdami Ssaem” youth support project since 2012, providing non-face-to-face counselling and psychological treatment support. The cumulative number of counselling sessions totals about 1.6 million. It provided psychological treatment expenses to 1,781 high-risk youths who needed specialist treatment.

From 2024, it has been running intensive school-visit prevention education to respond to youth drug crime and drug misuse problems. So far it has taught proper medicine use and the risks of harmful drugs, including narcotics, to about 7,500 youths at 41 schools.

It is also conducting school violence prevention education. So far it has provided education to about 12,000 students at 71 schools. KB Kookmin Bank plans to support the building of a youth safety net through an integrated support system that runs from prevention education to counselling and treatment links.

A KB Kookmin Bank official said, “Supporting youths so they can grow into healthy members of society is an important practice of inclusive finance for future generations.”