On Monday August 12th, the Korean Institute of Criminology and Justice (KICJ), led by President Tae-hoon Ha, co-hosted the 1st International Symposium on Youth and Justice with the National Youth Policy Institute (NYPI). This in-person symposium focusing on the theme of "Substance Abuse and Gambling Problem in Youth" began with opening remarks from Tae-hoon Ha, the President of KICJ, and congratulatory remarks from Shim Woo Jung, the Vice Minister of Ministry of Justice of Republic of Korea. Also at this event, experts from nine countries, including the United States, Malaysia, India, Thailand, Mongolia, Cambodia, Uzbekistan, Indonesia and Vietnam participated as presenters and discussants.

The event was structured into a keynote session and two thematic sessions. In the keynote session, Professor Kevin Wolff from the Department of Criminal Justice at John Jay College presented strategies for addressing youth substance abuse and gambling issues. Following this, the thematic sessions featured in-depth discussions on specific topics. During the thematic sesson 1 with the topic of “Substance Abuse in Youth,” the presentations were given by Haslinda Abdullah, Director of the Institute for Social Science Studies at Universiti Putra Malaysia; Nang-hee Kim, Research Fellow at KICJ; Kittipoom Neamhom, Director at the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ); and Sang-ryul Bae, Senior Research Fellow at NYPI.

In thematic session 2, highlighting the ‘Gambling Problem in Youth,’ the presentations and discussions were led by Yatan Pal Singh Balhara, Professor of Psychiatry at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences; Ji-yeon Lim, Senior Research Fellow at NYPI; Jeffery Lawrence D’Silva, Deputy Director of the Institute for Social Science Studies at Universiti Putra Malaysia; and Je-Seong Cho, Research Fellow at KICJ.

The symposium provided a platform for in-depth analysis of drug and gambling issues in youth as well as facilitated discussions on various prevention and treatment programs.

It also served as a venue for building networks among international experts and promoting international cooperation to address the aforementioned challenges.