Group Accident and Indemnity Insurance for Soldiers Starting July Next Year

Government Announces "Policy Improvement Measures for Young People in Military Service"

Indemnity Insurance Support for Discharged Soldiers

The government has announced the introduction of a new group accident insurance policy for all enlisted soldiers fulfilling their mandatory military service. Additionally, it will provide support for indemnity insurance for discharged veterans for a period of one year and six months after their discharge.

On September 3, under the leadership of Prime Minister Han Seong-sook, the government held the 13th National Policy Coordination Meeting and confirmed the “Improvement Plan for Military Service-Related Youth Policies” centered around these measures.

Yonhap News Agency

First, the Ministry of National Defense will work to introduce public accident insurance for young people serving mandatory military duty. Currently, support for injuries or illnesses that occur during military service is available through free treatment at military hospitals or through disability compensation under the Disaster Compensation Act. However, there have been limitations to broad support because of insufficient medical infrastructure and narrow coverage ranges.

To address this, the Ministry of National Defense will introduce group accident insurance for all mandatory service soldiers, including active-duty personnel and those in the supplementary service. In collaboration with the Korea Post under the Ministry of Science and ICT, a public insurance plan will be developed, ensuring that anyone who suffers an illness or injury during military service can receive broad coverage, such as payments for fractures or amputations and consolation payments for psychiatric conditions.

The group accident insurance for mandatory service members is scheduled to be implemented starting in July next year. Additionally, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs will introduce public indemnity insurance for young discharged veterans. Currently, the Ministry fully supports the cost of treatment at veterans or contracted hospitals for discharged soldiers if there is a proven causal relationship between their illness or injury and their military service, based on the severity of the condition. If causality is not established, however, only 50% of the out-of-pocket cost is supported for serious or intractable diseases occurring during service.

However, as it is realistically difficult to verify causality between military service and illnesses or injuries, there have been concerns about the increased medical expenses burden on young discharged veterans and their families.

To address this, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs plans to introduce public indemnity insurance targeting young discharged veterans, including those who were active-duty and supplementary service soldiers, starting in July next year. Under this program, young veterans will be eligible to receive coverage for one year and six months after discharge, regardless of whether the illness or injury occurred during service, and compensation will be provided at a level comparable to the latest (5th generation) indemnity insurance products sold by private insurers.

Furthermore, the government plans to extend the age eligibility for major youth support programs organized by each ministry by the length of military service—between one and six years—to ensure that military service does not prevent young people from accessing youth policy benefits due to age restrictions. The government will also establish a legal basis to ensure that the period of military service is reflected in the calculation of support ages for youth policies in the future.

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