Korea writes off 47.7 bln won of foreign residents' unpaid health insurance over 5 years
In short
Foreign subscribers and overseas South Korean nationals owed 37.5 billion won in unpaid health insurance premiums at the end of 2025, and 47.7 billion won has been written off as uncollectible over five years, according to National Assembly Budget Office figures reported by Yonhap. Long-term departure and emigration accounted for 94.3% of the written-off amount. A revised procedure introduced in April 2025, which gives three-time delinquents advance notice and a two-month deadline, led only 19.9% of notified foreigners to pay in full.
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As of the end of 2025, 34,349 households of foreign subscribers and overseas South Korean nationals were behind on regional health insurance premiums, owing 37.5 billion won, according to National Assembly Budget Office figures reported by Yonhap. That compares with 21,728 households and 26.4 billion won in 2021, up 58.1% in households and 42.0% in the amount. Foreigners accounted for 33,725 households owing 34.4 billion won; overseas nationals, 624 households and 3.1 billion won. [ 2 ]
Amounts that cannot be collected are written off, mostly after policyholders leave the country. Write-offs rose from 1,520 cases worth 400 million won in 2021 to 55,712 cases worth 19.9 billion won in 2024 and 47,503 cases worth 18.0 billion won in 2025. Long-term departure and emigration accounted for 130,650 cases and 45 billion won, or 94.3% of the written-off amount, over five years. Mandatory coverage for foreigners began in July 2019, and cases meeting the write-off condition of three years after departure began to appear in earnest from 2023. After the three-year statute of limitations, Yonhap reported, the money cannot be collected even if assets are found. [ 2 ]
Over five years the cumulative write-off came to 134,505 cases and 47.7 billion won. Kukmin Ilbo and Yonhap both reported that total. Kukmin Ilbo's headline framed the story around people who received benefits and then left the country. [ 1 , 2 ]
The government changed its procedure after the Constitutional Court ruled in 2023 that restricting benefits for delinquent foreigners without prior notice was unconstitutional. From April 2025, those behind on three or more payments receive advance notice and a two-month deadline before benefits are restricted. Results have been limited: by July 2026 the National Health Insurance Service had notified 1,448 such foreigners, of whom 288, or 19.9%, paid in full and 137, or 9.5%, had benefits restricted. The remaining 1,023 people, 70.6%, neither paid nor had benefits restricted, and Yonhap reported it is not clearly confirmed whether they missed the notice or their payment deadline is still running. [ 2 ]
Between 2021 and June 2026, authorities identified 15,906 improper claims made while benefits were suspended, worth 1.158 billion won. Of those, 8,405 cases worth 351.6 million won involved people staying abroad, and 7,669 of them, worth 307.5 million won, were under foreigners' names. Yonhap also described cases in which foreigners who left passed their alien registration cards and insurance eligibility to acquaintances or people without status for hospital treatment, and said prescriptions for chronic conditions were sent abroad under departing policyholders' names, without giving counts. [ 2 ]
Detection has been uneven. Foreigners' improper claims during time abroad ranged from 50 to 134 cases a year from 2021 to 2024 but reached 7,014 cases worth 275.9 million won in 2025 alone, equal to 91.5% of all such cases and 89.7% of the amount. Yonhap said this shows a need to check whether routine verification is working properly, and that the findings point to strengthening the management of collections before departure. [ 2 ]
Why it matters
The figures describe a gap in South Korea's health insurance system: premiums that are billed but never collected, and benefits that are hard to restrict once a subscriber has left the country. A three-year statute of limitations means written-off debts cannot be recovered even if assets are later found, which the budget office and Yonhap say argues for stronger collection before departure. The coverage remains a domestic administrative and fiscal matter with little direct effect on readers elsewhere.
Key facts
- As of the end of 2025, 34,349 households of foreign and overseas Korean regional subscribers owed 37.5 billion won in health insurance premiums, up from 21,728 households and 26.4 billion won in 2021. [ 2 ]
- Foreigners made up 33,725 of those households, owing 34.4 billion won; overseas nationals accounted for 624 households and 3.1 billion won. [ 2 ]
- Cumulative write-offs over five years came to 134,505 cases and 47.7 billion won. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Long-term departure and emigration accounted for 130,650 cases and 45 billion won, or 94.3% of the written-off amount. [ 2 ]
- After the Constitutional Court ruled in 2023 that benefit restrictions without prior notice were unconstitutional, the government began from April 2025 to notify those delinquent three or more times and give them two months to pay before restricting benefits. [ 2 ]
- By July 2026, 1,448 foreigners had been notified, 288 (19.9%) paid in full, 137 (9.5%) had benefits restricted, and the status of 1,023 (70.6%) was not clearly confirmed. [ 2 ]
- Authorities identified 15,906 cases of improper claims during benefit-suspension periods from 2021 to June 2026, worth 1.158 billion won. [ 2 ]
- The figures come from the National Assembly Budget Office's 2026 report on public institutions. [ 2 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- The processing status of the 1,023 foreigners who neither paid in full nor had benefits restricted. Yonhap says it is not clearly confirmed whether they failed to receive the notice or their payment deadline is still running.
- Whether the 2025 jump in fraud detection reflects more fraud or closer checking. Yonhap reports that 91.5% of detections came in 2025 alone and that this shows a need to check whether routine verification is working, but does not give a cause.
- The arrears total of 37.5 billion won and its breakdown. Only Yonhap carries the detailed numbers; the Kukmin Ilbo document contains a headline only.
- Identity-misuse cases in which people remaining in Korea use the registration cards and insurance eligibility of foreigners who left. Yonhap describes such cases as known but gives no figures or named examples.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- The Constitutional Court rules that restricting benefits for delinquent foreigners without prior notice is unconstitutional. [ 2 ]
- The government changes its procedure: those delinquent three or more times receive advance notice and a two-month full-payment deadline before benefits are restricted. [ 2 ]
- Cut-off for the latest data on notices issued to delinquent foreigners, of whom 19.9% paid in full. [ 2 ]
- Kukmin Ilbo publishes its report. [ 1 ]
- Yonhap publishes the budget office figures. [ 2 ]