Answer Life Call ② "100% Life Safety" Gyeonggi Province…but No Emergency Line for 'Suicide Prevention'

※ Editor's Note = On the occasion of Suicide Prevention Day, the government and local governments are emphasizing the value of respect for life. However, are calls for help reaching people properly in moments of crisis? News S will examine the suicide prevention counseling system and legal compliance status in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and Incheon, as well as the response gaps between central and local governments over three installments.

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

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

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

It is a mandatory provision, not a discretionary one.

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

1577-0199 is not a dedicated suicide crisis line. It is a Mental Health Crisis Counseling Line that handles depression and anxiety counseling and support, mental health information provision, and guidance to mental healthcare institutions all together.

In essence, the law requires local governments to install and operate 'emergency phones for suicide prevention,' but in reality the Mental Health Crisis Counseling Line is performing that function concurrently.

The gap between the law and the actual operational system becomes even clearer when looking at the national suicide prevention counseling line '109.'

Since 2024, the government has consolidated previously dispersed suicide prevention counseling functions into 109. Accordingly, 109 is institutionally designated as the 'Suicide Prevention Counseling Line,' and 1577-0199 as the 'Mental Health Crisis Counseling Line.'

However, in actual crisis counseling practice, the roles of the two lines are not completely separate.

When counseling received on 109 requires ongoing mental health management in the area, it is referred to local institutions such as the Mental Health and Welfare Center in the client's district. Conversely, even when counseling through the regional 1577-0199, counseling related to suicide crisis is being provided.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare explained that if the waiting time for 109 counseling becomes long, counselors can ask the client about transferring to 1577-0199, and when case management for regional mental health is needed after 109 counseling, the client can also be connected to the 1577-0199 system.

By law and in the system, 'suicide prevention phones' and 'mental health phones' are distinguished, but in actual crisis situations, they are structured to connect and transfer to each other.

From the perspective of citizens in suicide crisis, depending on which number they call, they can move between the national suicide prevention counseling line and the regional mental health crisis counseling line.

The problem is that even though the regional 1577-0199 is substantially handling one pillar of the suicide prevention safety net, it is difficult to find measures in local governments' suicide prevention policies to actually strengthen the telephone counseling network itself.

On the 14th, Gyeonggi Province proclaimed 'Life Safety Gyeonggi' at a Suicide Prevention Day commemoration ceremony.

Governor Choo Mi-ae of Gyeonggi Province announced plans to reduce the suicide mortality rate from 28.2 per 100,000 population in 2024 to 22.6 by 2030 with a 20% reduction through 'Life Safety 100·10·1.'

In particular, promising to build a '100% Life Safety Net' and achieve 'one-stop life safety that does not miss even a single person,' she presented a policy direction of "finding first, connecting for sure, and staying together until the end."

Seoul is also promoting life respect campaigns and suicide prevention and mental health-related events for Suicide Prevention Day, and Incheon likewise held a Suicide Prevention Day commemoration ceremony on the 1st with the theme of 'Life Connection Linking Each Other.'

Although the three capitals are emphasizing suicide prevention policies and 'connection,' the regional phone counseling network—the most basic means of access for citizens in suicide crisis—remains in the existing system shared with the Mental Health Crisis Counseling Line.

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

In particular, Gyeonggi Province has 4 counselors per day handling 2 phone lines. Although the province declared a '100% Life Safety Net' and 'one-stop life safety that does not miss even a single person,' direct measures to strengthen the phone counseling network, such as expanding counseling staff or phone lines for 1577-0199, were not found in this plan.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare also acknowledges this reality and limitations, but maintains the position that it cannot intervene in matters under local government jurisdiction.

An official from the Ministry of Health and Welfare said, "Even though it is a legal obligation, local governments are actually not creating emergency phones for suicide prevention and are sharing that function on 1577-0199," and added, "The government cannot force local governments' policy decisions."