Seoul City Invests 36.1 Billion Won in Dolbom SOS, Expands Linkage with Integrated Care

10 Billion Won Increase from Last Year... Higher Fees for Each Service Type
Linked Support of "Dolbom SOS" for Integrated Care Beneficiaries
Service-Specific Usage Caps Abolished... Higher Annual Limit

Seoul City will allocate a total budget of 36.1 billion won this year to the Dolbom SOS program. The program supports citizens who urgently need care due to sudden illness or accidents, and by raising the service fees for each type of service, the city also aims to improve overall service quality.

According to Seoul City on the 19th, with the full-scale implementation of the Integrated Care program starting this year, the city has decided to link and provide Dolbom SOS services to Integrated Care beneficiaries. Accordingly, when an Integrated Care beneficiary needs immediate care, for example when being discharged from the hospital after surgery or treatment, they can receive Dolbom SOS services such as temporary in-home care or accompaniment support after an investigation by the relevant district office.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will allocate a total budget of 36.1 billion won this year to the Care SOS Project, which supports citizens who require care due to illness or accidents.
Photo by The Asia Business Daily: Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon inspecting a shantytown in preparation for the cold wave.

The Dolbom SOS program consists of: (1) "Temporary In-Home Care," in which a caregiver visits the home of a person in urgent need of help to provide nursing or daily living assistance; (2) "Short-Term Facility Care," which offers temporary protection for beneficiaries; (3) "Accompaniment Support," which helps with essential outings such as hospital visits; and (4) "Housing Convenience" services, such as simple home repairs and cleaning, and "Meal Delivery" services to help maintain proper nutrition. For households with an income at or below 100% of the median income, the full cost of these services is covered.

This year’s Integrated Care beneficiaries include seniors aged 65 and older, as well as people under 65 with severe physical or brain lesions disabilities who need Integrated Care. In particular, the city adjusted the service fees for each type of service to better reflect current conditions, taking into account recent inflation and the increase in long-term care benefit levels, which serve as the basis for the fees for Temporary In-Home Care and Short-Term Facility Care. As a result, the fees have been raised as follows: Temporary In-Home Care from 16,940 won to 17,450 won per 30 minutes; Short-Term Facility Care from 71,970 won to 74,060 won per day; Accompaniment Support and Housing Convenience from 16,300 won to 16,800 won per hour; and Meal Delivery from 10,100 won to 10,400 won per meal.

In line with the fee increases, the project budget for this year has been set at 36.1 billion won, an increase of 1 billion won (3%) compared with the previous year, so that services can be provided in a stable manner. The city expects that linking with Integrated Care beneficiaries will create a denser care safety net, and that the higher fees will lead to improved quality of care services.

Meanwhile, the city has continued to revise and supplement the Dolbom SOS program so that it can provide practical help to citizens in need. Last year, it raised the annual per-person usage limit, which had been maintained at 1.6 million won since 2022, to 1.8 million won. In addition, it abolished the usage caps that had been set for each individual service category (Seoul City Deregulation Measure No. 8), allowing citizens to receive as much of the specific services they need as they wish, within the annual usage limit. As a result, the average per-person usage amount in 2025 increased by about 14.5% compared with 2024, from 530,000 won to 610,000 won.

Previously, the maximum annual usage time for Temporary In-Home Care was 60 hours, so even seniors living alone or vulnerable individuals who needed continuous housekeeping and caregiving services could receive only about two hours of support per day for roughly one month, and then had no access to care for the rest of the year. Now, however, they can freely use the services they want within the annual usage limit.

Yoon Jongjang, Director General of Welfare at Seoul City, said, "Over the past five years, Dolbom SOS has been a core program that has filled urgent care gaps closest to citizens," adding, "This year, through an organic linkage with Integrated Care and an increased budget, we will provide more substantial care services that citizens can tangibly feel."