"To Prevent the Tragedy of the Three Mothers in Suwon" ... Police Cooperate in Cases of Missing Vulnerable Households

Ministry of Health and Welfare Holds Expert Meeting to Identify Welfare Blind Spots

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Following the 'Suwon Three Mothers' incident, the government is considering a plan to seek police assistance to locate vulnerable households when their whereabouts cannot be confirmed, treating them similarly to missing or runaway persons.

On the morning of the 24th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare held an 'Expert Meeting on Identifying Welfare Blind Spots' at the Government Complex Sejong to discuss this matter. Attendees included experts from the National Police Agency, Social Security Information Service, Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, Credit Recovery Committee, as well as academia specializing in welfare delivery systems and suicide prevention. They reviewed the issues in the welfare blind spot identification system and discussed measures to improve it.

The Suwon three mothers were battling cancer and rare incurable diseases and were experiencing severe financial hardship to the point of being unable to pay monthly rent on time. However, they did not apply for welfare services such as emergency livelihood support or basic living subsidies, thus receiving no benefits. Despite local government officials visiting them due to long-term health insurance premium arrears, the actual residence differed from the registered address, and contact information was unavailable, so help could not reach them.

The government judged that to identify vulnerable households without welfare benefit application or consultation records in the social security information system and whose whereabouts are difficult to ascertain, it is necessary to secure personal information such as contact details.

Accordingly, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on the afternoon of the previous day, the government decided to consider a plan where the National Police Agency supports locating vulnerable households with unknown residences in the same way they search for missing or runaway persons.

Furthermore, active promotion of the 'Welfare Membership' program, which will be expanded to cover the entire population next month, will be pursued.

Welfare Membership is a service that proactively informs households about welfare services they can receive when events such as birth, death, income, or property changes occur. Applications can be made at local administrative welfare centers or online (Bokjiro), regardless of address.

The government plans to especially encourage pre-registration for Welfare Membership among information-vulnerable groups such as the elderly and households with severe disabilities.

Cho Kyu-hong, First Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, stated, "Based on expert opinions from today's meeting, we will establish improvement measures for identifying and supporting welfare blind spots, including personal information linkage, through collaboration with related ministries such as the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, National Police Agency, and Financial Services Commission." The Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to hold a meeting with welfare directors from each city and province on the 26th to discuss timely support measures for vulnerable groups.

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