Samsung Welfare Foundation launches infant development platform 'Saessak and Danbi'

The Samsung Welfare Foundation and the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education announced Monday the launch of Saessak and Danbi, a one-stop infant and toddler development support platform designed to help all young children grow up healthy.

The platform brings together developmental screening tools, age-specific guidance, play-based support activities, and information on specialist institutions by region — giving parents and teachers a single destination to understand a child's developmental level and provide tailored support.

As South Korea grapples with a low birth rate, the need for an integrated support system capable of identifying developmental concerns early and enabling timely intervention has grown urgent. The Samsung Welfare Foundation responded by partnering with the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education — a government-funded research institute under the Office of the Prime Minister — and spent roughly two years from 2024 building the platform.

Saessak and Danbi offers free access to the K-SIED (Korean Screening Index of Early Development), a developmental screening tool developed by the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education, allowing anyone to easily check a child's developmental status. Based on the results, the platform provides customized play-based support content for parents and teachers, and connects users with regional specialist institutions where children can receive detailed diagnosis and treatment.

The Samsung Welfare Foundation plans to refine the platform with input from parent and teacher monitoring groups and volunteer supporters, while building a network with public institutions involved in early childhood development so that various development support projects can be linked through the platform.

Ryu Moon-hyung, executive vice president of the Samsung Welfare Foundation, said Saessak and Danbi "is not a platform only for children at risk of disability — it was built to stand alongside parents and teachers so that all children can grow up healthy from infancy." He added that the foundation would work with the education, childcare, medical and welfare sectors "to develop the platform into a hub for the development support ecosystem."

Hwang Ok-kyung, director of the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education, said the platform "holds great significance in that it has turned the research achievements of a public institution into something parents and teachers can actually use." She expressed hope that it would "help parents with child-rearing and contribute to teachers' efforts to support infant and toddler development by making expert information and data accessible."