1. Date

This report used data from January to December 2021. In the case of overwork deaths, it used the reference such as 「2021 Industrial Accident Occurrences」 published in March 2022 by the Ministry of Labor and the press release from the office of Yong Hye-in, a member of National Assembly [1]. In the case of suicides from overwork, it used 「2022 Suicide Prevention White Paper」 (2020 suicide cases analysis), 「2021 Psychological Autopsy Interview Report」, and also press releases [2] by Yong Hye-In’s. The government's official analysis report on the occurrence of industrial accidents in 2021 has not yet been published (to be published in the second half of the year), so it is not possible to analyze by industry or business size, it introduces a brief outline instead.

2. Overwork

In 2021, 1,168 people received workers' compensation insurance due to cerebro-cardiovascular disease, and 509 people died. It accounts for the largest number of deaths due to occupational diseases. This is an increase of 9.9% compared to 2020.

According to the data released by Yong Hye-in's, 565 people died from overwork, including 30 civil servants, 6 military personnel, and 20 fishing crew, in addition to 509 workers covered by industrial accident insurance in 2021. This is an increase of 13.7% from 497 in 2020. Compared to the previous year, the number has increased 9.9% (463 -> 509) for workers covered by industrial accident insurance, 66.7% (18 -> 30) for civil servants, and 100% (10 -> 20) for fishing crew.

While statistics from the Ministry of Labor only counts industrial accident insurance compensation cases, it analyzes all related data from the Ministry of Personnel Management (civil servant), the Ministry of National Defense (military personnel), Teachers Pension (private school teacher), and the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives (fishing crew) who are not eligible for industrial accident insurance. Nevertheless, it is assumed that the figure does not include single-person self-employed people who do not have industrial accident insurance, special employment type workers such as delivery workers and platform workers who are not covered by industrial accident insurance .

3. Suicide by overwork

According to the data released by Yong Hye-in's office, a total of 88 industrial accident compensation cases were approved for suicide in 2021. The number of applications for suicide compensation was 158, and the approval rate was 55.7%. This is a significant increase in both applications and approvals compared to 87 applications and 61 approvals in 2020.

In addition, a total of 114 people, including 10 civil servants and 16 military personnel, were compensated for work-related suicides in 2021.

This is thought to be far under-reported compared to real cases which people took their own lives for work-related reasons. According to the “2022 Suicide Prevention White Paper” (2020 suicide case analysis), the total number of suicides in 2020 was 12,776, of which 492(3.9%), were classified as ‘problems related to workplace or work’. As the total number of suicides compensated in 2020 is 87 (61 persons eligible for workers' compensation insurance), it can be presumed that even though the National Police Agency saw that it was suicide due to work problems, but there are many cases in which compensation was not applied for or even if it was applied, it was disapproved.

It may also be an underestimate that 492 people committed suicide in 2021 due to 'work problems'. In classifying the causes of suicide, the National Police Agency is required to select only one representative cause. If a 'work problem' is not the only cause, but is a significant trigger for suicide, it may not be counted here.

According to the 「2021 Psychological Autopsy Interview Report」 on a total of 801 suicides between 2015 and 2021, 59.2% of 801 suicide cases had work-related stress before death. It is the third most common stressor after family relationships (60.4%) and financial problems (59.8%).

4. Conclusion

In 2021, 1,168 people received workers' compensation insurance due to cerebro-cardiovascular disease, and 509 people died. A total of 565 people, including 30 civil servants, 6 military personnel, and 20 fishing crew, were compensated for overwork. In 2021, a total of 88 cases of industrial accident compensation were approved for suicide.

Approval of overwork deaths and suicides continues to increase in Korea. This is because social interest in overwork deaths or suicides has increased, and the work-related disease determination process is improving little by little. However, there are well-founded concerns that cases are still underreported. Nevertheless, it seems very dangerous that there are various movements of government under President Yun Seok-yeol to neutralize the regulation of a maximum of 52 hours a week. It is a time when it is necessary rather to reduce working hours and improve job stability.