Safe Kids Korea

Injury Facts

• Accidental injury is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 14 in Korea .

• In 2006, 645 children ages 1 to 14 died in Korea from preventable injuries.

• Statistics show that, in comparison with children in developed countries, Korean children are three to five times more vulnerable to dying from accidental injuries caused by traffic-related collisions, drowning, falls or suffocation.

• Motor vehicle crashes, which cause 49 percent of childhood injury deaths, are the leading cause of injury-related fatalities in Korea , followed by drowning, falls, suffocation and burns.

• Every day, 28 Korean children under the age of 14 are killed or injured as pedestrians in road traffic accidents.

• The annual cost of child injury deaths in Korea is an estimated $200 million in U.S. dollars.

Who We Are

Support from the Citizens' Coalition for Safety enabled the launch of Safe Kids Korea in December 2001. The mission of Safe Kids Korea is to alert the new generation of parents to the risks to their children posed by accidental and provide them with information and materials necessary to eliminate these risks.

Where are we now? ( July 2005 - Recent Programs)

Safe Kids Walk this Way

On April 13, 2005, the second annual Walk This Way pedestrian safety program was launched at Dae-dong Elementary School in Seoul with support from FedEx Express. Walk This Way reduced pedestrian-related injury and death by raising public awareness of child pedestrian safety and educating children, parents and caregivers about child pedestrian safety.

During the event, more than 1,500 students received classroom education from Fed Ex volunteers and other adults about pedestrian safety. Then, instruction moved outdoors, where children used a moving crosswalk and traffic signs to practice what they learned. More than 300 children and government officials then paraded around the school zone delivering child pedestrian safety tips to drivers.

Safe Kids Korea also released the results of a multi-country study in Asia providing new data on child pedestrian injuries, including the results of a survey of local school zones.

Mom's Hand Campaign

On March 3, 2005, Safe Kids Korea launched its fourth annual Mom's Hand Campaign to decrease traffic-related pedestrian death among children. This year, the program focused on first-grade students, the group with the highest mortality rate from traffic-related accidents. Students were given a yellow plastic "Mom hand" that they could raise to increase their visibility as they crossed streets. After the educational activities, children practiced what they learned at the nearest crosswalks. Students were also given a handbook about child traffic safety.

More than 500 mothers and 2,000 Daekyo volunteers participate in the program. The campaign lasted for one month and reached 50 cities (including Seoul and six megalopolises) and 600 elementary schools across the country. Daekyo Corporation, the founding sponsor of Safe Kids Korea, sponsored the event.

Other Resources

• Country Report 2003-2004