South Korean insurance industry regulatory issues

South Korea has faced significant regulatory challenges within its insurance sector, involving both advertising violations and fraudulent activities.

Data released regarding the period between 2022 and the first half of 2024 identified over 47,000 violations of online insurance advertising regulations. The majority of these infractions occurred on blogs and video platforms like YouTube, often involving advertisements that omitted mandatory information or failed to undergo prior review. Lawmaker Park Seong-hun noted that enforcement has primarily been limited to corrective measures, such as the deletion or modification of posts, rather than fines, leading to concerns that illegal advertising remains a low-risk activity.

In a separate regulatory action, the Financial Services Commission and Financial Supervisory Service issued administrative sanctions against 29 insurance professionals for involvement in fraud. These disciplinary measures included the cancellation of registrations and business suspensions. The investigations uncovered various fraudulent methods, most notably the intentional manipulation of traffic accidents, as well as the falsification of hospitalization records and the forgery of signatures to claim death benefits.