Answering the Lifeline ③ Government Doubles Personnel and Introduces AI…Local Governments' '109 Lifeline' Remains Stagnant

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

While the government is nearly doubling counseling personnel and introducing artificial intelligence (AI) to increase the connection rate of the suicide prevention counseling hotline '109,' personnel and technological reinforcements for regional crisis counseling hotlines are not particularly prominent, presenting a stark contrast.

According to materials submitted to the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee on the 15th by Rep. Heo Jong-sik of the Democratic Party (Incheon Dong-gu, Michuhol-gu District A), the number of calls received by 109 last year was 352,914, nearly double the 176,864 calls in 2022.

Meanwhile, the connection rate fell from 62.0% during the same period to 47.3%. Last year, 167,080 calls actually led to counseling sessions.

The government's prescription was 'personnel increase.'

By the end of last year, Center 1 of 109 was staffed with 74 counselors out of an authorized 100, and Center 2 with 30 out of an authorized 50. The Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to increase Center 2's authorized strength to 100 and proceed with additional hiring to fill 200 authorized positions at Centers 1 and 2 by next month.

When the Ministry actually announced a large-scale personnel increase plan in May, there were 103 counseling staff. According to the plan, the number would nearly double in just a few months.

'AI' will also be deployed.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to introduce an AI counseling support system to 109 in November. It will support functions including converting counseling content to text, risk assessment by counseling cases and guidance on response measures, and counseling history management.

In particular, the goal is to reduce the time counselors spend writing counseling reports after calls from the existing 20 minutes to 5 minutes. The intent is to reduce non-counseling tasks so that counselors can answer more calls.

In the first quarter, 109 received an average of 1,118 calls per day. The average number of calls answered per day was 532, filling 92% of the maximum capacity of 580 calls possible at the time.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare judged that simply increasing the number of counselors has limits. This is why personnel increases for counselors and efficiency improvements using AI are being pursued simultaneously.

However, the approach to the regional counseling network is different.

The Mental Health Crisis Counseling Hotline (1577-0199) operated by Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, Incheon, and others has no government-level large-scale personnel expansion or AI counseling support system implementation plans like 109.

In the case of 109, the government directly determines the scale of counseling personnel and undertakes personnel increases and system improvements, but the scale of counseling staff and call lines for 1577-0199 is determined by each local government.

AI is no different.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the AI counseling support system to be introduced in November was developed to match 109's counseling data and telephone system, and currently there are no plans to apply it jointly to regional 1577-0199 lines.

Ultimately, crisis counseling hotline connection issues are occurring simultaneously at both central and local levels, but the methods to improve them differ.

When the government's 109 connection rate fell to 47.3% last year, it introduced countermeasures increasing personnel to a maximum of 200 and introducing AI.

Meanwhile, how much to reinforce personnel, call lines, and systems for regional crisis counseling hotlines remains dependent on the policy decisions of each local government.

A Ministry of Health and Welfare official said, "The AI system being introduced to 109 was developed based on 109's counseling data and system, making it difficult to apply directly to regional 1577-0199 lines," and "The operation of counseling personnel and call lines for 1577-0199 is an area handled by each local government, and we have no plans to expand 109's system to local areas."