The South Korean government will pursue a cross-agency suicide prevention program aimed at lowering the suicide rate to 18.9 per 100,000 people or below by 2030. It will use artificial intelligence to detect suicide risk early and expand subsidies for the treatment of people who have attempted suicide. The plan also strengthens accountability for both the central government and local communities by disclosing each local government's prevention record and offering financial benefits to high performers.
The government finalized the sixth basic plan on suicide prevention at the 11th meeting of the Suicide Prevention Policy Committee, held at the Government Complex Seoul on the 12th and chaired by Prime Minister Han Seong-sook. The plan consolidates previously announced prevention measures across nine areas and adds new tasks such as mental health treatment and the use of AI.
The target is to cut the suicide rate from 29.1 per 100,000 people in 2024 to 18.9 or below by 2030, a reduction of 33.3%. The domestic suicide rate hit its highest level since 2012 in 2024, but eased to 27.8 last year. The number of suicide deaths from January through July this year was 7,432, down 1,043, or 12.3%, from the same period a year earlier.
The government will first set up a national suicide response office to respond quickly to suicide crises. Average staffing at suicide prevention centers will rise to 7.1 next year from five this year, and temporary protection services offering up to 24 hours of counseling and recovery support will be extended to people who attempted suicide but were not hospitalized. Regional psychiatric emergency medical centers will increase to 17 by 2030 from 14 at present, and suicide prevention crisis centers (branded "Life Love") will expand to 103 next year from 93 last year.
Treatment costs will also be eased. The ceiling on treatment subsidies for people who have attempted suicide will be raised in phases to 1.5 million won from the current 1 million won, and the cap on emergency hospitalization subsidies will rise to 6 million won from 4.5 million won. The government will also push to broaden national health insurance coverage for treatment-resistant depression.
The use of AI and data will be expanded. The government plans to divide suicide motives, currently grouped into seven categories, into 27 detailed types and to analyze risk factors by linking health insurance and social security benefit data. It will develop an AI-based model for predicting suicide risk and analyze regional suicide trends to detect warning signs early.
Support will be strengthened for people facing financial hardship or social isolation. Starting this month, the government will operate 1375, a nationwide hotline for debt counseling, and will pursue emergency living expense support for people at high risk of suicide as well as policies to ease the burden of family caregiving. Tailored prevention measures will also be implemented reflecting the characteristics of specific groups, including students and adolescents as well as police officers, firefighters and soldiers.
Another feature of the plan is greater responsibility for local governments. The government will assess suicide rates and the progress of prevention projects by region and disclose the results after a grace period. High-performing local governments will receive awards and financial incentives. Central ministries and metropolitan and provincial governments will draw up annual implementation plans and have their performance evaluated.
"Protecting the lives of our citizens is the state's most important duty," Han said. "Suicide is not the business of any single ministry but a problem the entire government must take responsibility for solving."