Gov't to evaluate local suicide rates, build community-centered prevention system

The government plans to evaluate and publicly disclose each local government's suicide rate and prevention efforts as part of a new system designed to mobilize both central and local authorities in responding to the suicide crisis, with fiscal support tied to performance results.

A national suicide response office will be established under the Ministry of Health and Welfare next year, with AI used for suicide risk prediction, while coordination between psychiatric institutions and suicide prevention centers will also be strengthened.

The government convened the 11th meeting of the Suicide Prevention Policy Committee at Government Complex Seoul on Monday, chaired by Prime Minister Han Seong-sook, and approved the 6th Basic Plan for Suicide Prevention containing these measures.

To strengthen national and social accountability around suicide, the government said it will build a community-centered prevention system that brings together central government agencies, local governments and the private sector.

Under the plan, central administrative agencies and metropolitan and provincial governments will draw up implementation plans based on the basic plan and track their progress. Each ministry will set interim indicators aligned with its target population and policies and monitor compliance.

For local governments in particular, the government will evaluate both suicide rates and prevention policy efforts, publish the results, and link performance to rewards and fiscal support. However, public disclosure of evaluation results will proceed with a grace period.

Lee Seon-yeong, director of mental health policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said information will be disclosed down to the county and district level, with a one-year grace period in mind. "We are reviewing ways to make both year-on-year comparisons and absolute figures available together in a comprehensive disclosure," she said.

The government will also strengthen its response to people in acute suicidal crisis.

The national suicide response office, to be established under the Ministry of Health and Welfare next year, will work jointly with police and the National Fire Agency to monitor suicide attempt situations and manage response operations.

Staffing at suicide prevention centers will rise from the current average of 5.0 workers per center to 7.1 by next year, and temporary protection services will be expanded to provide up to 24 hours of counseling for suicide attempt survivors who do not require hospitalization.

Regional psychiatric emergency medical centers will expand from 14 to 17 by 2030, and life-care crisis response centers will grow from 93 in 2025 to 103 next year.

The government will also pursue the designation of psychiatric emergency care as essential medical services, expand inpatient capacity, designate high-risk treatment hub hospitals, and strengthen mental health treatment coverage, including for treatment-resistant depression.

The government also decided to include socioeconomic risk factors that elevate suicide risk — such as debt, poverty, social isolation and caregiving burdens — as key policy targets.

Measures will include long-term debt restructuring, stronger prevention of illegal financial practices and fraud, emergency living expense support for high-risk individuals, and improvements to systems that ease family caregiving burdens, including caregiving leave.

The government will also push to shift toward a system that proactively identifies and supports people in need.

Referral and coordination between psychiatric institutions and suicide prevention centers for high-risk individuals will be expanded. The government is also reviewing a plan to reimburse medical staff or employees at psychiatric institutions who, with the patient's consent, connect them to suicide prevention centers or similar services.

The government will develop management measures for suicide attempt survivors who decline services, while actively identifying at-risk individuals through tools such as an integrated crisis household detection platform.

To improve statistical systems, the classification of suicide motives will expand from the current seven categories — including mental health issues, economic problems and family problems — to 27. A framework will also be built to analyze the collected data alongside national health insurance records, social welfare benefit histories and other datasets.

A data-driven prevention system will be established using AI for suicide risk prediction and regional trend analysis. AI will also support tasks currently performed by humans, such as logging counseling records from the 109 hotline and monitoring suicide-inducing content online.

To deliver tailored and integrated suicide prevention policy, the government will implement prevention programs suited to the specific characteristics and risk pathways of different groups, including students and youth, crime victims, workers in high-risk occupations and bereaved families.

Support for suicide-bereaved families will be strengthened, and a survivor protection officer system will be introduced to ensure bereaved families receive the support they need in a timely manner following a suicide.

Prime Minister Han said suicide "is not the responsibility of any single ministry but a problem the entire government must take responsibility for and resolve." She added that the government would closely monitor the performance of each local government, spread successful on-the-ground cases and provide additional support — through evaluations and fiscal assistance — to local governments that sustain outstanding efforts.