Answering the Life Phone ② "100% Life Safety" Gyeonggi Province…No Emergency Hotline Even for 'Suicide Prevention'

※ Editor's Note = On the occasion of Suicide Prevention Day, the national government and local governments are emphasizing the value of respect for life. However, are calls for help during crisis moments reaching people properly? Suwon Ilbo will examine over three installments the suicide prevention counseling systems in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and Incheon, the status of fulfilling legal obligations, and the gap in response between the central and local governments.

Although the law requires local governments to establish and operate 'suicide prevention emergency hotlines,' it has been confirmed that local governments nationwide, including Gyeonggi Province, have not installed separate dedicated suicide prevention telephone lines.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and others on the 15th, all 16 metropolitan cities and provinces nationwide are also providing suicide crisis counseling through the Mental Health Crisis Counseling Hotline (1577-0199).

Article 13, Paragraph 4 of the current 'Suicide Prevention and Life Respect Culture Formation Act' stipulates that "the state and local governments shall install and operate suicide prevention emergency hotlines that can receive reports at any time."

It is a mandatory provision, not an optional one.

However, not only Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and Incheon, but all metropolitan local governments nationwide do not have separate dedicated suicide prevention numbers and perform suicide crisis counseling functions together on 1577-0199.

1577-0199 is not a dedicated suicide crisis hotline. It is a Mental Health Crisis Counseling Hotline that jointly handles mental health counseling and support for depression and anxiety, provision of mental health information, and guidance to mental health medical institutions.

In effect, while the law requires local governments to install and operate 'suicide prevention emergency hotlines,' in reality the Mental Health Crisis Counseling Hotline is serving that function.

The gap between the law and the actual operating system becomes even more evident when looking at the national suicide prevention counseling hotline '109.'

Since 2024, the government has integrated suicide prevention counseling functions that were previously dispersed into 109. Accordingly, 109 is institutionally classified as a 'suicide prevention counseling hotline,' while 1577-0199 is classified as a 'mental health crisis counseling hotline.'

However, in actual crisis counseling operations, the roles of the two hotlines are not completely separated.

Among counseling calls received on 109, those requiring ongoing mental health management in the area are connected to local institutions such as Mental Health Welfare Centers. Conversely, even when counseling is provided through the local 1577-0199, counseling related to suicide crises is still taking place.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare explained that if wait times for 109 counseling become lengthy, counselors can ask callers about transferring to 1577-0199, and if case management for local mental health is needed after counseling on 109, connection can be made to the 1577-0199 system.

While the law and system formally separate 'suicide prevention hotlines' and 'mental health hotlines,' in actual crisis situations they form a structure where they connect and transfer calls to one another.

From the perspective of citizens in suicide crisis, depending on which number they call, they can be transferred between the national suicide prevention counseling hotline and the local Mental Health Crisis Counseling Hotline.

The problem is that while local 1577-0199 substantially handles one pillar of the suicide prevention safety net in this manner, it is difficult to find measures in local governments' suicide prevention policies that actually reinforce the telephone counseling network itself.

On the 14th, Gyeonggi Province declared 'Life Safety Gyeonggi Province' at a Suicide Prevention Day commemorative event.

Governor Choo Mi-ae announced through 'Life Safety 100-10-1' that the suicide death rate of 28.2 per 100,000 population in 2024 will be reduced to 22.6 per 100,000 population by 2030, a 20% decrease.

In particular, while pledging to 'establish a comprehensive life safety network' and 'provide one-stop life safety without missing a single person,' the governor presented a policy direction of "discovering first, connecting surely, and staying together to the end."

Seoul is also promoting life respect campaigns and suicide prevention and mental health-related events on Suicide Prevention Day, and Incheon held a Suicide Prevention Day commemoration event on the 1st with the theme 'Connecting Life Through One Another.'

Although the three metropolitan cities and provinces in the capital region are emphasizing suicide prevention policies and 'connection,' the local telephone counseling network—the most basic access means for citizens in suicide crisis—remains under the existing system of sharing with the Mental Health Crisis Counseling Hotline.

Last year's answer rate for the 1577-0199 hotline in the capital region was 50.7%. Gyeonggi Province was 37.1%, Seoul 54.9%, and Incheon 61.1%.

In particular, Gyeonggi Province has four counselors handling two phone lines per day. Despite declaring a 'comprehensive life safety network' and 'one-stop life safety without missing a single person,' no direct telephone counseling network reinforcement measures such as expansion of counseling staff or phone lines for 1577-0199 were confirmed in this plan.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare also acknowledges this reality and its limitations, but takes the position that it cannot intervene in local government affairs themselves.

A Ministry of Health and Welfare official stated, "Despite being a legal obligation, local governments in reality are not creating suicide prevention emergency hotlines and are having 1577-0199 perform that function together. The government cannot force local governments' policy decisions at the national level."