'Compensation for Work-Related Injuries to Speed Up' ... Legislative Notice of Amendment to Enforcement Decree of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act

Ministry of Personnel Management Specifies Four Categories of Presumed Occupational Diseases
Including Musculoskeletal, Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Diseases, Occupational Cancer, and Mental Disorders

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Compensation for public officials injured or afflicted with diseases while performing official duties will become easier and faster.

The Ministry of Personnel Management (Director Kim Seung-ho) announced on the 19th that it will publicly notify the amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Public Officials Disaster Compensation Act (Disaster Compensation Act), which specifies the disease categories subject to the presumption of work-related injury, omits the review of clear work-related injuries, and reduces the burden of proving the disaster, from the 20th of this month to July 2nd.

First, based on past work-related injury review cases, consultations with related agencies, and expert advice, the amendment to the Disaster Compensation Act explicitly lists four disease categories subject to the presumption of work-related injury: ▲musculoskeletal diseases ▲cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases ▲occupational cancers ▲mental disorders.

The presumption of work-related injury system assumes that if a public official is exposed to harmful or hazardous environments for a considerable period during official duties and contracts a disease, it is presumed to be a work-related injury.

The Ministry of Personnel Management explained, "Musculoskeletal diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and mental disorders are disease groups with high application frequency, and occupational cancers are diseases that are difficult for injured public officials to prove, so they were included."

Additionally, when an injury from a work-related accident is clear, the authority to decide on medical care benefits will be entrusted to the Government Employees Pension Service, allowing the omission of review meetings and establishing a rapid compensation system for injured public officials. This aims to simplify the review process and provide faster compensation.

Going forward, the scope of projects that can be entrusted to the Government Employees Pension Service, such as developing and distributing programs related to disaster prevention and rehabilitation support, health checkups and counseling, and installation and operation of health maintenance and promotion facilities, will be specifically defined.

Until now, there was only a regulation on entrusting the Government Employees Pension Service with disaster prevention and rehabilitation support, but no detailed content on the scope of entrustment, making it difficult for the Service to autonomously carry out entrusted projects.

The Ministry of Personnel Management also stated, "We expect the Government Employees Pension Service to actively promote related disaster prevention and rehabilitation projects."

Furthermore, grounds for conducting on-site investigations to facilitate smooth operation of review meetings have also been established.

The amendments will undergo public opinion collection during the legislative notification period, legal and regulatory review, and approval by vice ministers and the Cabinet. The specification of disease categories subject to the presumption of work-related injury and the delegation of decision authority for clear work-related injuries will take effect from June 11, the enforcement date of the new provisions of the Disaster Compensation Act, while the remaining matters will be promulgated and applied immediately during May and June.