[New Year's Address] General Insurance Association President Byungrae Lee: "Promoting Productive Financial Support... Strengthening Consumer Protection"

Lee Byungrae, President of the General Insurance Association of Korea,
Delivers New Year's Address for the Year of the Horse

Byungrae Lee, President of the General Insurance Association of Korea, announced plans to promote productive financial support and strengthen consumer protection in the coming year.

In his New Year's address on December 31, Lee stated, "Changes in the population structure are not merely a social issue, but a significant variable affecting productivity, consumption patterns, and the overall market structure." He added, "This wave of change presents both tremendous opportunities and major crises that could determine the fate of our industry."

Byungrae Lee, President of the General Insurance Association of Korea. General Insurance Association

Lee identified four key priorities for the new year: enhancing risk management capabilities, establishing solid growth fundamentals, securing new growth drivers, and expanding consumer-centric values.

He said, "We will support financial authorities to ensure that soundness regulations, such as the basic capital solvency ratio (K-ICS), are introduced rationally, and we will also work to stabilize accounting standards, including International Financial Reporting Standard 17 (IFRS17). In addition, we plan to actively support regulatory improvements related to asset management and investment activities so that capital in the insurance industry can be channeled into productive finance."

Lee continued, "With the launch of the fifth-generation indemnity health insurance, we will assist financial authorities to ensure it is stably established in the market. We will also develop measures to control excessive non-covered medical expenses, thereby laying the foundation for normalizing indemnity insurance."

He further stated, "We plan to strengthen the institutional framework, including relevant laws, to eradicate insurance fraud, which increases the burden on honest policyholders and undermines the fundamental value of insurance. We must also work to promptly implement and stabilize improvements to the commission structure, which has been identified as a major cause of incomplete sales and short-term performance competition."

Lee emphasized that, due to market saturation and rapidly changing conditions, it is difficult to ensure the growth of the insurance industry with traditional profit models alone. He diagnosed that securing new growth engines is necessary.

He said, "We must enhance coverage for emerging risks such as deepfakes and dementia, and develop innovative services like insurance product subscriptions to meet the diverse needs of consumers. As the elderly population is rapidly increasing, we should support entry into new businesses such as nursing care and caregiving, and combine data from various fields with insurance to provide consumers with differentiated, customized products."

Lee also pledged to expand consumer-centric values. He said, "To solidify social trust in the insurance industry, we must fundamentally expand consumer-centric values and internalize them throughout the industry. We will thoroughly prevent and monitor unfair contract replacements and misleading advertisements, which infringe on consumer rights and deepen distrust in the insurance industry."

He added, "We will focus on improving related systems and expanding infrastructure, such as making pedal misoperation prevention devices mandatory, to create a safer traffic environment across society. We will also expand inclusive finance tailored to vulnerable groups and small business owners, taking the initiative in supporting recovery and growth where it is most needed in our society."