Joint research team including Gyeongsang National University Professor Kim Geon-woo wins Grand Prize at the '2026 Pseudonymized Information Utilization Competition'

- Hosted by four agencies including the Personal Information Protection Commission…123 teams participated

- Safely combined and analyzed GPS hiking records and health insurance data

Gyeongsang National University (President Kwon Jin-hoe) announced that the joint research team “Forest Healing Mental Health Team” (National Institute of Forest Science, Seoul National University, Korea Forestry Promotion Institute) with participation by Professor Kim Geon-woo of the Department of Environmental and Forest Sciences received the Grand Prize (Minister of Health and Welfare Award) in the Best Practice category at the “2026 Pseudonymized Information Utilization Competition.” The team combined hiking application records with National Health Insurance medical data to track 32,737 people, and the risk of new-onset mental disorders in the high-activity hiking group was observed to be about 10–11% lower than in the inactive group.

The competition was hosted by the Personal Information Protection Commission, the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the Financial Services Commission, and organized by the Korea Internet & Security Agency. The awards ceremony was held on Wednesday, September 30, at EL Tower in Seocho-gu, Seoul. This year, a total of 123 teams participated, and 20 entries received awards in total, including 4 Grand Prizes in the Best Practice category.

The “Forest Healing Mental Health Team” pseudonymously linked the GPS hiking records from the Tranggle hiking app with National Health Insurance Service healthcare information so that individuals could not be identified. Hiking activity in 2016–2017 was evaluated using four indicators—distance, duration, frequency, and regularity—and new diagnoses of mental disorders were tracked from 2018 to 2021. After adjusting for related factors such as age, sex, and income, consistent trends were confirmed across all four indicators. However, as these results are a statistical association based on observational data, they do not imply a causal relationship that hiking directly reduces mental disorders.

Previous forest healing studies had limitations in precisely determining actual activity time, distance, and frequency because they relied on participants’ memories or surveys. This study addressed that by combining actual GPS activity records with healthcare data. The data were analyzed in pseudonymized form after undergoing Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, de-identification, and data release review procedures.

In this joint study, Gyeongsang National University Professor Kim Geon-woo participated in building an environmental information analysis system that links forest structure and weather/atmospheric environments to individual GPS movement paths. Based on GPS movement paths, the researchers spatially integrated forest-structure information (tree species, diameter class, age class, density, tree height), weather information (temperature, precipitation, wind speed, wind direction, humidity), and air-quality information (PM10, PM2.5).

The joint research team plans to further refine analysis of the forest, weather, and atmospheric-environment information in the linked data to identify forest-environment characteristics related to health. The research outcomes will be expanded to personalized forest-activity information provision, nature-based social prescribing (Social Prescribing), creation of health-friendly forest environments, and development of forest welfare services that take individual characteristics into account.

Professor Kim Geon-woo said, “Going forward, beyond ‘how often one goes to the forest,’ it is important to determine how factors such as tree species and forest structure, microclimate, and atmospheric environment—the ‘what kind of forest under what conditions was used’—relate to mental health,” adding, “We expect to extend the research to evidence-based forest healing and personalized forest welfare services.”

·Photo caption:Professor Kim Geon-woo, Department of Environmental and Forest Sciences, Gyeongsang National University

Responsible department:Department of Environmental and Forest Sciences | 055-772-1852 | bkim5020@gnu.ac.kr

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