Since March 2009 Dr. Shin, Mi-nyeo has been the acting representative of Saejowi. Since its inception in 1988, Saejowi has worked primarily in the medical community, where it has established medical counseling centers for North Korean defectors in four South Korean hospitals. By the end of 2014, Saejowi had provided medical counseling assistance to approximately 7,500 North Korean refugees. Saejowi's four medical centers were established to provide medical counseling to supplement and explain professional diagnoses and treatments. The organization's counselors are North Korean defectors, so they are able to describe medical recommendations using the North Korean dialect. The medical counseling offered by Saejowi specifically addresses the following situations: North Korean defectors who arrive in South Korea with untreated physical illness and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), North Korean defectors who are unable to obtain necessary medical treatment because of misunderstandings caused by differences between medical procedures in North and South Korea, and North Korean defectors who experience difficulties understanding medical terms and phrases derived from English and other Western languages. In order to help North Korean defectors obtain employment in South Korea, Saejowi provides them with programs that address their physical, psychological, social, and emotional needs. The organization has also created other short-term programs on an as-needed basis, such as a language program initiated in 2010 with the Daewon Foreign Language High School to provide English language training to defectors. Through Saejowi's "Coaching" (코칭) program, North Korean defectors can develop the necessary skills to become licensed as counselors who can provide assistance to other defectors as they utilize the South Korean healthcare system. These classes teach participants how to assist patients as they obtain medical referrals, schedule necessary appointments, receive discharge information, and communicate with medical staff. Counselors also provide defectors with social support by visiting them in the hospital, listening to their concerns, and sharing information regarding life in South Korea. By the end of 2013, 118 North Koreans were certified as counselors, with 59 defectors officially employed in a career related to their counseling training. The organization's domestic and sexual violence counseling for North Korean defectors is for defectors who have suffered through abusive family situations. Because many North Koreans believe that their abusive family situations are "normal," they do not seek assistance for domestic violence offenses. Through these counseling sessions Saejowi provides these defectors with the information they need to both recognize and avoid abusive situations.