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Korea Herald
20-05-2025
- Health
- Korea Herald
More foreigners eligible for health insurance, while number of Korean subscribers falls
Increase in foreign residents required to sign up to the state program in 2024 is accelerating An increasing number of foreign nationals are required to join South Korea's state-run health insurance program between 2020 and 2024, reflecting the growing population of longer-term foreign residents. The number of Koreans who are signed up, however, is decreasing due to the country's record-low birth rate. According to data from the National Health Insurance Service submitted to Rep. Kim Mi-ae of the People Power Party, 59,662 Vietnamese and 56,425 Chinese nationals were newly added to the National Health Insurance system in 2024. This represents a sharp rise from 2020, when 13,714 Vietnamese and 30,129 Chinese nationals were added. According to an October report by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, there were 1.93 million foreign nationals residing in Korea for at least three months as of 2023. It marked the highest figure since the governmental tally began in 2006, and was up 10.4 percent from the year before. Vietnamese and Chinese nationals were the two biggest groups of foreigners living here. The Korean population in the country have been declining since 51.82 million in 2020, marking 51.17 million as of April of this year. "The number of Koreans eligible for the health insurance is shrinking due to issues like low fertility, yet the foreigners are rising. There needs to be a comprehensive measure to account for the changing situation," Rep. Kim said. Korean law states that foreign nationals who have resided here for at least six months are required to subscribe to the state-run health insurance program, with few exceptions granted to those with F-6 marriage migrant visa. Rep. Kim stressed that the new administration to be formed after the June 3 presidential election must consider adopting a "reciprocal" health care policy for foreigners. She, in January, along with 25 other lawmakers, proposed a revision to the law that would make foreign nationals from countries that do not offer health care benefits equivalent to Korea's ineligible to enroll in Korea's health insurance or be registered as a beneficiary. The proposal said this was to prevent foreign nationals from briefly visiting Korea for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the insurance coverage. However a law passed under the Moon administration required a minimum stay of 6 months for independent subscribers, and legislation passed under the Yoon administration closed a loophole for dependents. It said that Chinese nationals in 2023 received 874.3 billion won ($624.3 million) in benefits while paying in 810.3 billion won in subscription fees. In 2024, 17,087 foreign nationals unlawfully received benefits from the state insurance program, garnering 2.55 billion won in total. However other data shows foreign subscribers to be net contributors to the system. In 2023, foreign subscribers paid 2.04 trillion won ($1.47 billion) in fees, while receiving 1.27 trillion won in benefits, according to National Health Insurance Service data released last year by Rep. Nam In-soon of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea.
Korea Herald
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Ruling party lawmaker proposes tougher restrictions on foreign voters
Rep. Kim Mi-ae of the ruling People Power Party plans to propose a bill that would place tighter restrictions on the voting rights of foreign national permanent residents in local elections, the lawmaker's office said Monday. Under the current law, foreign nationals over 18 with at least three years of permanent residency — those with an F5 visa — are able to vote for mayors, governors and local council members. They can not vote in presidential or general elections. The bill aims to revise the Public Official Election Act by raising the bar from the current three years to 10 years. It also seeks to only grant voting rights to permanent residents from countries that allow South Korean permanent residents to vote in their elections, be it by a treaty or similar agreement. The bill would be officially introduced Tuesday, according to Rep. Kim's office. The latest bill seems to align with claims coming from the right in recent years that a growing number of Chinese nationals with permanent residency here could 'distort' the outcome of local elections. Conservative lawmakers have pointed to reports of the Chinese government's alleged attempts to meddle in elections in Canada and Australia. Meanwhile, critics say that imposing such restrictions on the voting rights of foreign permanent residents goes against the government's goal of embracing immigration as a solution to the country's fast-aging society. According to parliamentary data obtained and released by Kim in mid-March, some 140,000 foreign national residents will be eligible to vote in the upcoming April 2 by-elections. Chinese nationals accounted for the majority at 81 percent, or 113,500 people, followed by those from Taiwan at 6.9 percent, Japan at 4.8 percent and Vietnam at 1.1 percent. Among other races, the upcoming elections will determine the new education superintendent in Busan. City mayors and district chiefs in several regions, including Guro-gu in northern Seoul, Asan in South Chungcheong Province, Damyang-gun in South Jeolla Province and Gimcheon in North Gyeongsang Province will be decided as well. A 2005 amendment to the Public Official Election Act, which allowed foreign permanent residents to vote in some elections, was pursued by the administration of Roh Moo-hyun. The revision partly hoped to encourage Tokyo to allow Korean permanent residents to participate in their elections. Japan, however, has yet to allow foreign residents to vote in any of its elections.
Korea Herald
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Conservative lawmaker propose tougher restrictions for foreign voters
Rep. Kim Mi-ae of the ruling People Power Party plans to propose a bill that would place tighter restrictions on the voting rights of foreign national permanent residents in local elections, the lawmaker's office said Monday. Under the current law, foreign nationals over 18 with at least three years of permanent residency — those with an F5 visa — are allowed to vote for mayors, governors and local council members. However, they can not vote in presidential or general elections. The bill aims to revise the Public Official Election Act by raising the bar from the current three years to 10 years. It also seeks to only grant voting rights to permanent residents from countries, by treaty or similar agreements, that allow South Korean permanent residents to vote in their elections. The bill would be officially introduced Tuesday, according to Rep. Kim's office. The latest bill seems to align with the conservative party's claims in recent years — some believe the growing number of Chinese nationals with permanent residenty here could 'distort' the outcome of local elections. Conservative lawmakers have pointed to the reports of the Chinese government's alleged attempts to meddle in elections held in Canada and Australia. Meanwhile, critics say that imposing such restrictions on the voting rights of foreign permanent residents goes against the government's goal of embracing immigration as a solution to the country's fast-aging society. According to parliamentary data obtained and released by Rep. Kim in mid-March, some 140,000 foreign national residents will be eligible to vote in the upcoming April 2 by-elections. Chinese nationals accounted for the majority at 81 percent, or 113,500 people, followed by those from Taiwan at 6.9 percent, Japan at 4.8 percent and Vietnam at 1.1 percent. The upcoming elections will determine the new education superintendent for the country's southern city of Busan. City mayors and district chiefs in several regions, including Guro-gu in northern Seoul, Asan in South Chungcheong Province, Damyang-gun in South Jeolla Province and Gimcheon in North Gyeongsang Province will be decided as well. The 2005 amendment to the Public Official Election Act, which allowed foreign permanent residents to vote in some elections, was pursued by the then-Roh Moo-hyun administration. The revision partly hoped to encourage Tokyo to allow Korean permanent residents to participate in their elections. Japan, however, has yet to allow foreign residents to vote in any of its elections.
Korea Herald
20-02-2025
- Health
- Korea Herald
Long-term care spending for seniors doubles in last 5 years
South Korea in 2024 spent 14.76 trillion won ($10.27 billion) in state-provided long-term care benefits for those aged 65 and up, again marking an all-time high as the proportion of older residents in the country keeps climbing. The latest figure marked a substantial increase from the year before and was nearly double the 7.73 trillion won spent five years ago, according to the National Health Insurance Service data submitted to Rep. Kim Mi-ae of the ruling People Power Party. The annual figure has climbed every year since 2019, first surpassing 10 trillion won to 10.09 trillion won in 2021, and marking 13.19 trillion won in 2023. Long-term care benefits, a form of social safety net for the elderly in accordance with the Long-term Care Insurance Act, refer to services such as aid in physical activities and household chores or nursing, or money paid in lieu of such services to a person determined to have difficulties living independently for six months or longer. South Korea's workers are mandated to be subscribed to Long-term Care Insurance along with the National Health Insurance program. A total of 1.47 million people applied for long-term care benefits last year, 1.16 million of whom were approved. "Both the number of applicants for long-term care benefits and spending on the benefits are expected to increase as (the country's population) grows older, yet many subscribers are not even aware that they are paying the monthly fees," said Kim. "The system must have a fair and objective (approval) system, so that people who paid insurance fees their entire lives are not rejected in the application process after their retirement. The South Korean government last year officially announced that it has become a super-aged society―a society where more than 20 percent of the population is aged 65 or above. Twenty percent of the country's total 51.22 million population―10.24 million―were aged 65 or above as of December 2024, according to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. Statistics Korea in 2022 projected that the percentage of those 65 or older in the country is expected to surpass 30 percent in 2035, and reach 43 percent of the population by 2050.
