Controversy Over Wasteful Use of Public Funds for 'Citizen Safety Insurance' by Gyeonggi Province Local Governments

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Local governments in Gyeonggi Province are rushing to subscribe to 'Citizen Safety Insurance' to support the stabilization of the lives of citizens affected by disasters or various incidents and accidents. However, there are criticisms that very few citizens have benefited from the insurance after subscribing, resulting in a waste of taxpayers' money.

According to local governments in Gyeonggi Province on the 28th, local governments subscribe to Citizen Safety Insurance that pays insurance benefits ranging from 10 million to 15 million KRW when citizens suffer injuries from various natural disasters such as landslides, social disasters such as explosions and fires, or robbery incidents, and subsequently die or suffer permanent disabilities.

The insurance premiums range from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of KRW depending on the population. The insurance must be renewed annually, and all citizens automatically become beneficiaries without any separate procedures.

Seongnam City paid 126 million KRW last year and about 132 million KRW this year for insurance premiums and subscribed to Citizen Safety Insurance that provides up to 10 million KRW in insurance benefits.

Suwon City also paid 470 million KRW in insurance premiums from April to the end of last year to subscribe to Citizen Safety Insurance, and from January this year, newly subscribed to a 900 million KRW insurance plan integrating Citizen Bicycle Insurance and Citizen Safety Insurance.

Gunpo City paid 63 million KRW in insurance premiums from March last year to February this year to subscribe to Citizen Safety Insurance, and this year, expanded coverage and increased the insurance premium to 90 million KRW for re-subscription. The maximum insurance benefit per person is 15 million KRW.

Siheung City subscribed for the first time this year in March to Citizen Safety Insurance (insurance premium of 100 million KRW) that allows citizens to receive up to 10 million KRW in insurance benefits if they die or suffer permanent disabilities due to disasters.

Gwangmyeong City and Anyang City also subscribed to 'Citizen Life Safety Insurance' in February and March respectively, which compensates up to 15 million KRW in case of disaster damage.

The problem is that the insurance, which local governments have poured enormous amounts of money into, is not leading to substantial benefits for citizens.

In the case of Seongnam City, no insurance beneficiaries have emerged so far. Suwon City has spent 1.4 billion KRW over the past two years, but the actual insurance benefits paid amount to only 28 million KRW. Gunpo City had two residents receive 17.2 million KRW in insurance benefits.

Given this situation, some local governments have stopped renewing citizen insurance subscriptions or withdrawn from considering insurance subscriptions.

Yongin City subscribed to Citizen Safety Insurance after paying a total of 500 million KRW in insurance premiums over two years from 2018 to 2019, but this year, the city council cut the related budget entirely, stating that "the effectiveness is not significant," thus halting renewal. Yongin citizens received 40 million KRW in insurance benefits in 2018 and 35 million KRW last year from the insurance subscription.

Ansan City had been considering subscribing to Citizen Safety Insurance but decided not to subscribe after analyzing the low insurance benefit rates in other local governments.

The low benefit rate of Citizen Safety Insurance is due to insufficient promotion and strict coverage regulations. The current citizen insurance stipulates that insurance benefits are paid only in very limited cases where injury from disasters results in death or permanent disability.

An official from a local government said, "If we expand the coverage so that many citizens can benefit from insurance payments, the insurance premiums that local governments have to bear will inevitably increase," adding, "It seems that there are not many beneficiaries because we try to support citizens' disaster damages with minimal (insurance) costs."

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