Korea to shift welfare from application-based to proactive support

The health ministry said Thursday it will shift South Korea's welfare system from one that waits for people to apply to one that finds them first, publishing implementing rules for four benefits laws that let officials enroll eligible households without their consent.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare's proposed revisions to the enforcement decrees and rules of the Social Security Benefits Act, the National Basic Living Security Act, the Child Allowance Act and the Disabled Persons Pension Act will be open for public comment from Oct. 30 to Dec. 9. The changes follow amendments to six welfare laws that passed the National Assembly and the Cabinet on Oct. 20 and take effect Jan. 21, 2027.

The most consequential change expands the cases in which a civil servant may file on a person's behalf. Officials will be able to apply ex officio, without the person's consent, for households in crisis or at risk of dying alone that have been identified three or more times, for households that include a person who has died by suicide or attempted suicide and whose main earner has lost income, and for cases where an emergency support intervention has not resolved the crisis and continued help is needed.

People already confirmed as eligible for benefits such as basic livelihood security, the basic pension or the disabled persons pension will be treated as having applied for other social security benefits as well, sparing households separate applications.

For families with children, local governments will be able to pay the child allowance, parental benefit and first-meeting voucher after requesting consent for a bank account check, even when a guardian has not applied. The deadline for notifying a payment decision will move from the application date to the day all documents, including the consent form, are received.

The disabled persons pension will be extended to all people with severe disabilities, and the deemed-application system will cover recipients of livelihood and medical benefits as well as those who have applied for eligibility screening. The ministry will also widen the data it links through the social security information system to include information on family members who work as caregivers or receive care, using it to flag people at risk of dying alone, and will add information on veterans to identify unregistered people with disabilities.

It will finalize the revisions after collecting public opinion during the notice period. Comments can be submitted to the ministry's benefit standards, basic livelihood security, child policy and disability independence divisions, or through the government's public participation portal, by Dec. 9.