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Busan Metropolitan City Selects Daesun Distilling Co., Ltd. as the First “Life Respect Practice Company”… Calling for Broader Corporate Participation

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Busan Metropolitan City announced that it has selected Daesun Distilling Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Daesun Distilling”) as the first “Life Respect Practice Company,” which takes the lead in promoting messages that value life using corporate resources, and will present the certification plaque today (April 30) at 15:30 in the City Hall 7th-floor conference room.

The ceremony will be attended by Acting Mayor of Busan Metropolitan City Kim Kyung-duk and Daesun Distilling CEO Choi Hong-seong.

In response to the recent rise in suicide rates, the city has declared 2026 as the “First Year of Life Respect” and is accelerating efforts to establish an integrated and proactive suicide prevention system involving all departments and the private sector.

Recognizing suicide not as an individual issue but as a public matter requiring a collective community response, the city is strengthening policies to spread the value of life throughout citizens’ daily lives based on public-private networks.

This event marks the first collaboration with a private company following the declaration of the First Year of Life Respect and was designed to expand life respect messages through everyday, accessible media.

According to an analysis by the Korea Foundation for Suicide Prevention, approximately 40 percent of suicide deaths occur under the influence of alcohol. Based on this finding, the city planned a promotional campaign utilizing liquor bottles.

In response to the city’s proposal, Daesun Distilling, a representative local company, agreed with the value of respecting life and actively joined the initiative to fulfill its social responsibility as a regional enterprise.

A total of 500,000 bottles of Daesun Distilling’s flagship products will carry the “Are you okay?” life respect campaign message along with a QR code for mental health self-assessment, encouraging citizens to naturally recognize the value of life in their daily lives and seek help when in crisis.

Starting in May, 150,000 bottles will be distributed to businesses and 350,000 bottles will be sold for home use, spreading the message widely in everyday settings.

Choi Hong-seong, CEO of Daesun Distilling, stated, “We are honored to be selected as the first Life Respect Practice Company, and we are committed to fulfilling the responsibility that comes with this designation. Through this campaign, we hope that messages promoting respect for life will be conveyed naturally in daily life, and we will continue to make efforts on the ground to expand a culture that values life.”

Kim Kyung-duk, Acting Mayor of Busan Metropolitan City, said, “Following the establishment of the Busan Life Respect Network, this collaboration with Daesun Distilling represents a meaningful first step in spreading a culture of respect for life into citizens’ daily lives. We will do our utmost to expand this culture beyond government-led suicide prevention policies to include active participation from the private sector. We ask for continued interest and participation from various local stakeholders and citizens.”

Meanwhile, the city plans to expand participation in the “Life Respect Practice Company” initiative starting with the Daesun Distilling case, strengthening a society-wide cooperative framework.

Companies interested in contributing to the spread of a life-respecting culture using their diverse media and resources may contact the city’s Suicide Prevention Task Force Team (☎051-888-4271~4) to participate in social contribution activities promoting respect for life.

If you are experiencing emotional distress or have concerns that are difficult to talk about, or if someone around you is facing such difficulties, you can receive 24-hour professional counseling through the Suicide Prevention Hotline ☎109 or the suicide prevention SNS counseling service “Madeulran.”