Special Bereaved Family Compensation for Humidifier Disinfectant Victims Increased from 40 Million to 70 Million Won

Ministry of Environment to Hold Public Hearing on August 5 and Enforce Law on September 25
"Expansion of Eligibility Review Targets for Faster Processing"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Ministry of Environment announced that ahead of the enforcement of the Act on Relief for Victims of Humidifier Disinfectants, it will engage in in-depth discussions with stakeholders on measures such as raising the special condolence allowance for bereaved families from approximately 40 million KRW to about 70 million KRW.

On the 24th, the Ministry of Environment stated that starting from the legislative notice on July 3rd, it will listen to the opinions of all stakeholders before the enforcement of the 'Act on Relief for Victims of Humidifier Disinfectants' on September 25th, and finalize the subordinate legislation amendment accordingly.

Source: Ministry of Environment

The Ministry of Environment will hold a public hearing for victims on the 5th of next month at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul. The legislative notice period is ongoing until the 12th of next month, during which research projects have been conducted to improve the relief benefit payment items.

The Ministry plans to proceed with the procedures for amending subordinate legislation by gathering expert opinions and consulting with the Special Investigation Commission on Social Disasters.

The Ministry explained that the current subordinate legislation amendment proposal addresses the reorganization of the investigation and judgment system and the increase of the special condolence allowance for bereaved families.

It reflects the purpose of the law amendment to expand the scope of health damage caused by humidifier disinfectants.

Source: Ministry of Environment

However, the scope of eligibility screening has been expanded. All diseases that occurred or worsened after exposure to humidifier disinfectants have been selected as target diseases for eligibility screening.

The Ministry of Environment explained, "The expansion of eligibility screening is not intended to limit the range of victims but to enable prompt review."

Even those not included in the list of target diseases for eligibility screening can be recognized as victims if, after individual review, health damage caused by humidifier disinfectants is found to have occurred or worsened.

The proposal includes raising the special condolence allowance for bereaved families from about 40 million KRW to approximately 70 million KRW.

This is based on an analysis of death consolation damages in compensation lawsuits from last year through research projects.

Hamina, Director of Environmental Health Policy at the Ministry of Environment, said, "This amendment is a bill that strengthens government relief in accordance with the purpose of the law," and added, "We will do our best to provide relief to victims after the law is enforced."

She continued, "We will actively collect various opinions through legislative procedures including online channels," and added, "Especially, we will actively accept diverse opinions from the victims' public hearing and finalize the enforcement ordinance amendment accordingly."

Source: Ministry of Environment

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