[2026 Parliamentary Audit] NH NongHyup Life Insurance CEO Park Byunghee: "We will work to curb mis-selling to customers aged 80 and older"

National Assembly Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee audits National Agricultural Cooperative Federation and NH Financial Group

Rising sign-ups for long-term financial products among people aged 80 and older raise mis-

Sales of long-term financial products to people aged 80 and older have increased at NH Nonghyup Bank, NH Nonghyup Life Insurance, and NH Nonghyup Property & Casualty Insurance, raising concerns about mis-selling.

Assemblyman Shin Jang-sik of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, a member of the National Assembly’s Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee, raised concerns about Nonghyup’s long-term financial products for people aged 80 and older during Friday’s parliamentary audit of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation and NongHyup Financial Group.

Shin said the number of subscriptions by people aged 80 and older rose 5.4-fold at NH Nonghyup Property & Casualty Insurance and 5.6-fold at NH Nonghyup Bank, while it doubled at NH Nonghyup Life Insurance. According to data released by Shin’s office, subscriptions by people aged 80 and older at NH Nonghyup Property & Casualty Insurance increased from 2,641 in 2022 to 14,171 in 2025, while those at NH Nonghyup Bank rose from 86 in 2022 to 481 this year.

Shin criticized the sale of variable life insurance to people aged 80 and older, asking whether their average life expectancy had been taken into account. After pointing out that Nonghyup had sold variable life insurance policies with terms of seven to 10 years to customers aged 80 and older, he said, “Many older people assume that insurance guarantees the principal. Did you explain the risk of losing principal with variable life insurance?” He added, “There are also concerns about mis-selling. Can this be justified morally and ethically?”

His point was that although the rising share of sales to people aged 65 and older may be partly understandable in light of population aging, selling 10-year variable life insurance policies to people aged 80 and older is unjustifiable.

Park Byung-hee, CEO of NH Nonghyup Life Insurance, said, “It is true that insurance enrollment among older farmers is increasing as rural areas age,” adding that this was “a trend across the insurance industry.”

On mis-selling to the oldest age groups, he added, “The rate across the life insurance industry is 0.04%, while it is 0.01% at NH Nonghyup Life Insurance, or one-quarter of the industry rate.” He stressed, “Even so, protecting older farmers from mis-selling is an insurer’s natural duty, and we will work to bring the rate down further.”

Park countered, “With life expectancy increasing, whether to take away even the choices available to the oldest people requires further discussion,” adding, “I think social consensus may be needed.”

Shin also raised concerns about an exception to the rules on bancassurance sales that allows employees in departments outside the credit business, including those engaged in non-credit business, to recommend insurance enrollment. His point was that, amid concerns about mis-selling, the exception should not be extended. Park replied, “We will consider improvements from various angles.”

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