Minister Jeong Eun-kyeong: "Advancing a Welfare State that Values Life and Innovating Essential Medical Services"

At the First Anniversary Press Briefing, Minister Pledges “Tangible Policy Changes for the Public”

Restructuring of Emergency, Obstetric, and Regional Medical Services...

Welfare and Medical Innovation Driven by AI Also on the Agenda

The Ministry of Health and Welfare will focus on innovating the social safety net and essential medical services in the second half of this year by strengthening the system for identifying households in crisis and expanding the nationwide emergency medical transport system. Efforts will also accelerate in suicide prevention, expanding integrated care, introducing the “Regional Doctor Track,” and promoting the adoption of medical artificial intelligence (AI).

Jung Eun-kyung, Minister of Health and Welfare, is speaking at a press conference held at a restaurant in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, on the 11th to mark the first anniversary of the government's launch. Ministry of Health and Welfare

At a meeting with the press corps celebrating the government's first anniversary, held on the 11th at a restaurant in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, Minister of Health and Welfare Jeong Eun-kyeong stated, "We will move beyond welfare focused solely on vulnerable groups and pursue welfare for all," adding, "We will prepare a future-oriented social security system that responds to the transition to AI and demographic changes."

First, the Ministry presented the “social safety net that protects lives in crisis” as a key agenda. The frequency of receiving 47 types of crisis information, such as power and water cutoffs, will be shortened from a maximum of 60 days to 30 days, and variables indicating life crises will be linked to detect welfare blind spots at an early stage. Additionally, benefits such as the child allowance and parental pay will be paid automatically without requiring an application.

The “Just Dream Corner,” a food support program, is scheduled to be established at about 300 locations in all 229 cities, counties, and districts nationwide by September.

In suicide prevention, the number of counselors for the “109” suicide prevention helpline will increase from the current 103 to 200 in the second half of the year. An AI-based counseling support system will be introduced to assist with writing counseling records and assessing risk levels. The Ministry is also developing an AI system that will detect and delete suicide-inducing information online 24 hours a day.

In the field of essential medical care, the restructuring of the emergency, obstetric, and regional medical systems will be in full swing. The Ministry will expand the “Emergency Medical Transport System Innovation Pilot Project,” which was conducted in the Honam region, to the entire country by September. The criteria for designating regional and area emergency medical centers will also be revised to focus on the capacity to provide definitive treatment.

Minister Jeong explained, “The issue of emergency medical care is not simply about emergency rooms, but a structural issue of securing the capacity for definitive treatment in severe emergencies. The key is to have specialized personnel capable of performing emergency surgeries and to establish a 24-hour response system.” She added, “We will create transport guidelines at the regional level with collaboration between 119 emergency services, emergency medical institutions, and local governments, while the regional situation room will coordinate patient transfers. It is important to connect existing resources as efficiently as possible.”

Improvements will also be made to the medical system for high-risk pregnant women and newborns. The cooperative system between maternity hospitals and regional maternal and child medical centers will be expanded nationwide, and the staff in the central maternal and child medical center’s transfer-exclusive team will be tripled. The number of severe maternal and child medical centers will also be increased from two in Seoul to six across five major regions. Expansion of health insurance coverage for hair loss treatment through public consultation will also be pursued.

In the area of care, the integrated care system, which was launched nationwide in March this year, will be further expanded. Minister Jeong stated, “Care and medical services are the most essential basic services in a foundational society,” and added, “We will broaden the scope of integrated care to include people with disabilities and mental illness.” The Ministry will increase dedicated personnel and budgets at the local government level and strengthen public supply systems such as local medical centers and social service agencies. New services will include home-visit rehabilitation for people with disabilities, expanded obstetrics and gynecology services for people with disabilities, and pilot integrated care projects for individuals with mental illness.

The Ministry is also reviewing a reduction in the basic pension benefit reduction for couples and a “reverse progressive system” focusing on low-income groups. Minister Jeong explained, “There is an assessment that the current approach of providing the same amount to the bottom 70% of the elderly is limited in alleviating elderly poverty. We are reviewing various scenarios to provide more substantial support to low-income groups.”

Other tasks for the second half of the year include the introduction of a program supporting young adults’ first insurance premiums, expansion of credits for military service and childbirth, institutionalization of the sickness benefit, and restructuring the tailored self-sufficiency support system.

The Ministry will also accelerate the development of the biohealth industry, presenting the use of health and medical data and AI-based medical innovation as core strategies. Support for processing and analyzing medical data will be expanded, and the “AX Sprint Project,” including the public medical AI highway project, will be actively promoted.

Minister Jeong stated, “As employment structures are changing due to AI, the existing social security system also needs to change. Centered on the Basic Society Committee, we will prepare future-oriented systems for income security and care and medical services.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.