Response to Life Call ③ Government Doubles Workforce and Introduces AI…Local Governments' 'Life Call' Services Remain Stagnant

※ Editor's Note = On the occasion of Suicide Prevention Day, the government and local governments are emphasizing the value of life preservation. However, are emergency calls for help actually reaching those in crisis? Suwon Ilbo will examine the suicide prevention counseling systems in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and Incheon, the status of statutory obligation compliance, and the response gap between central and local governments over three installments.

While the government is nearly doubling counseling staff and introducing artificial intelligence (AI) to increase connection rates for the suicide prevention hotline '109,' there is a stark contrast as local crisis counseling hotlines show no significant reinforcement in workforce or technology.

According to data submitted to the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee on the 15th by Rep. Huh Jong-sik of the Democratic Party (Dong-gu, Michuhol-gu, Incheon), 109 received 352,914 calls last year, nearly double the 176,864 calls in 2022.

However, the connection rate fell from 62.0% to 47.3% during the same period. Last year, 167,080 of those calls resulted in actual counseling sessions.

The government's solution was 'workforce expansion.'

As of late last year, 109's Center 1 had only 74 staff out of 100 authorized positions, and Center 2 had 30 out of 50. The Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to increase Center 2's authorized positions to 100 and hire additional staff to fill 200 authorized positions at Centers 1 and 2 by next month.

In fact, when the Ministry announced its large-scale staffing expansion plan in May, counseling staff numbered only 103. If plans proceed as scheduled, the workforce will nearly double in just a few months.

'AI' is also being deployed.

The Ministry plans to introduce an AI counseling support system to 109 in November. The system will support functions including converting counseling records to text, assessing risk levels by counseling case and providing response guidance, and managing counseling history.

Notably, the goal is to reduce the time counselors spend writing counseling logs after calls from the existing 20 minutes to 5 minutes. The aim is to reduce non-counseling tasks so more calls can be answered.

In the first quarter, 109 received an average of 1,118 calls per day. The average daily responses were 532 calls, reaching 92% of the maximum capacity of 580 calls at that time.

The Ministry also recognized that simply increasing the number of counselors has limitations. This is why it is simultaneously pursuing both counselor expansion and operational efficiency improvements through AI.

However, the approach to local counseling networks is different.

Mental health crisis counseling hotlines (1577-0199) operated by Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, Incheon, and other regions have no plans for large-scale government-level workforce expansion or AI counseling support system implementation comparable to 109.

While the government directly determines 109's counseling staff size and pursues expansion and system improvements, the counseling staff and phone line capacity of 1577-0199 are decided by each local government.

AI is the same story.

According to the Ministry, the AI counseling support system to be introduced in November was developed specifically for 109's counseling data and telephone system, and there are currently no plans to apply it equally to local 1577-0199 lines.

Ultimately, while connection problems with crisis counseling hotlines are occurring simultaneously at both central and local levels, the methods to improve them differ.

The government announced response measures—expanding 109 staff to as many as 200 and introducing AI—when the hotline's connection rate dropped to 47.3% last year.

Meanwhile, decisions about how much to reinforce workforce, phone lines, and systems for local crisis counseling hotlines remain dependent on policy judgments by each local government.

A Ministry official said, "The AI system introduced to 109 was developed based on 109's counseling data and system, so it is difficult to apply it directly to local 1577-0199 hotlines," and "The operation of 1577-0199's counseling staff and phone lines falls under the responsibility of each local government, and there are no plans to extend 109's system to local regions."