Answer Life Call ① "Help Me" Calls That Never Connected
Editor's Note = On Suicide Prevention Day, the government and local governments are emphasizing the value of respect for life. Are calls seeking help during moments of crisis reaching counselors properly? Suwon Ilbo will examine the suicide prevention counseling systems in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon, the status of legally mandated obligations, and the response gaps between central and local authorities over three installments.
Of every two calls pleading "save me," one does not reach a counselor.
According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi Province on the 13th, last year the capital region Mental Health Crisis Counseling Line (1577-0199) received a total of 119,446 counseling calls.
Of these, only 60,531 calls (50.7%) were answered by counselors. The remaining 58,915 calls (49.3%) were recorded as 'unprocessed.'
The 1577-0199 line is a mental health crisis counseling phone service that handles not only mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, but also suicide crisis counseling. When calls are made to this nationwide number, they are routed to the basic or metropolitan mental health welfare center closest to the caller's region, and to the metropolitan mental health welfare center during nighttime and public holidays.
Among the capital region, Gyeonggi Province had the lowest response rate.
Last year, 37,486 calls were made to the 1577-0199 line in Gyeonggi Province. Of these, only 13,913 calls were answered, resulting in a response rate of 37.1%. This means that out of 10 calls, fewer than 4 reach counselors.
The low response rate has continued for years.
Gyeonggi Province's response rate was 43.6% in 2018, 50.7% in 2019, 46.6% in 2020, and dropped below 40% in 2021 at 39.4%. Since then, it has remained in the 30% range for four consecutive years: 38.3% in 2022, 33.6% in 2023, 35.9% in 2024, and 37.1% last year.
Over the eight-year period from 2018 to last year, 258,365 calls came to Gyeonggi Province. Of these, only 104,698 calls (40.5%) were answered, while 153,667 calls (59.5%) were unprocessed.
The counseling line operated by Gyeonggi Province has 2 lines, with 4 counseling staff members per day.
In Seoul, of the 55,619 calls received last year, 30,533 were answered, resulting in a response rate of 54.9%.
Seoul's response rate was 51% in 2018, 51% in 2019, 48.5% in 2020, and 55.8% in 2021. It dropped to 42.4% in 2022 and 41.6% in 2023, then rose to 56% in 2024.
Seoul operates the most lines among the three metropolitan areas—21 lines—with 21 counseling staff members working in three shifts.
Incheon had the highest response rate in the capital region, yet 4 out of 10 calls still did not connect.
Last year, Incheon received 26,341 incoming calls, with 16,085 answered, resulting in a response rate of 61.1%.
Incheon's response rate was 59.3% in 2022, 58.1% in 2023, 55.7% in 2024, and 61.1% last year.
Incheon operates 1 line during weekday daytime with 1 counselor, 2 lines with 3 staff during weekday nights, and 4 staff each during daytime and nighttime on public holidays.
Ultimately, of 10 calls made to 1577-0199 in the three metropolitan areas last year, at least 4 did not reach counselors.
A greater problem is that unprocessed calls are not even tracked nationwide.
Through information disclosure requests, Suwon Ilbo confirmed the operational status of 1577-0199 across 16 metropolitan local governments nationwide. Only three areas in the capital region—Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon—compile statistics on total incoming calls and unprocessed calls.
The remaining 13 metropolitan local governments do not track how many calls came in or how many did not reach counselors.
However, 1577-0199 is not solely for suicide crises. It also handles mental health counseling for depression and anxiety, as well as mental health information and medical institution guidance. Therefore, not all 58,915 unprocessed calls in the capital region can be attributed to citizens in suicidal crisis.
Nevertheless, the Ministry of Health and Welfare operates 1577-0199 as a mental health crisis counseling line handling suicide crisis counseling and coordinates it with the suicide prevention counseling line 109. However, the ministry has not set separate adequacy standards or evaluations for the response rate of 1577-0199.
An official from the ministry stated, "1577-0199 is a phone line operated by regional mental health welfare centers," and "issues with regional phone connections are not something the ministry can directly control."