Cheil Assimilates North Koreans With A Soulmate

If you can’t quite master the intricacies of a foreign language, spare a thought for expat North Koreans.

Those that have escaped the rumoured repressive regime run by Kim Jong-un and fled to South Korea – thinking that assimilation there would be easiest – have found living beneath a democracy difficult.

To make the transition as comfortable as possible, Cheil Worldwide has teamed up with Samsung Medical Center and the Korea Hana Foundation to launch a new caign, Soulmate, to help stabilize the mental health of former North Koreans.

The project will provide counselling and other psychological treatment to recently-emigrated North Koreans, who suffer from trauma following their experiences at home.

Soulmate develops last year's award-winning South Korean – North Korean Translator app (below), that focussed on creating a common language between the North and South of Korea. Both projects highlight what impact the division of Korea, over 60 years ago, has had on its citizens.

North Koreans have admitted to thinking about suicide three times more than their Southern counterparts – a statistic that understandably worries South Korean authorities.

“Student defectors who were exposed to unordinary experience and environment have difficulties in adapting to school life and establishing relationships with [their] peers,” says Samsung Medical Center professor Yoo-Sook Jung.

To combat this problem, psychotherapy and educational programs will be introduced into school curriculums and teachers will be required to monitor student’s health.

Soulmate will officially launch in March, entering primary schools first before being introduced into high schools.