Answering the Crisis Hotline ① Calls for Help Never Connected
Editor's Note = On Suicide Prevention Day, the government and local governments are emphasizing the value of life preservation. Are calls for help during moments of crisis reaching counselors properly? Suwon Ilbo will examine the suicide prevention counseling systems in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and Incheon, the status of fulfillment of statutory obligations, and the response gap between central and local governments over three installments.
"Please save me"—one in two calls ultimately fails to reach a counselor.
According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi governments on the 13th, a total of 119,446 counseling calls (incoming calls) were received on the Seoul Metropolitan Area Mental Health Crisis Counseling Hotline (1577-0199) last year.
Of these, only 60,531 calls (50.7%) were answered by counselors. The remaining 58,915 calls (49.3%) were recorded as 'unhandled.'
1577-0199 is a mental health crisis counseling hotline that handles not only mental health issues such as depression and anxiety but also suicide crisis counseling. When calling the same nationwide number, the call is routed to a basic or metropolitan mental health and welfare center near the caller's location, and to a metropolitan mental health and welfare center during nighttime and holidays.
Among the Seoul metropolitan area, Gyeonggi Province had the lowest response rate.
Last year, 37,486 calls came into Gyeonggi Province's 1577-0199. Of these, 13,913 calls were connected to actual counseling, resulting in a response rate of 37.1%. For every 10 calls received, fewer than 4 were connected to counseling.
The low response rate has continued for years.
Gyeonggi Province's response rate was 43.6% in 2018, 50.7% in 2019, and 46.6% in 2020, before dropping below 40% to 39.4% in 2021. Subsequently, it recorded 38.3% in 2022, 33.6% in 2023, 35.9% in 2024, and 37.1% last year, remaining in the 30% range for four consecutive years.
From 2018 to last year, a total of 258,365 calls came into Gyeonggi Province. Of these, only 104,698 calls (40.5%) were connected to counseling, while 153,667 calls (59.5%) went unhandled.
Gyeonggi Province operates the counseling hotline with 2 telephone lines and 4 counselors per day.
In Seoul, of 55,619 calls received last year, 30,533 were connected to counseling. The response rate was 54.9%.
Seoul's response rate was 51% in 2018, 51% in 2019, 48.5% in 2020, and 55.8% in 2021. It fell to 42.4% in 2022 and 41.6% in 2023 before rising to 56% in 2024.
Seoul operates the most lines among the three Seoul metropolitan area cities and provinces with 21 lines, and 21 counselors work in three shifts.
Incheon had the highest response rate in the Seoul metropolitan area, but still failed to connect 4 out of 10 calls.
Incheon's incoming calls last year were 26,341, of which 16,085 were connected to counseling, 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 telephone line with 1 counselor during weekday daytime hours, 2 lines with 3 counselors during weekday nighttime hours. On holidays, 4 counselors work both day and night shifts.
Ultimately, in the three metropolitan local governments in the Seoul metropolitan area last year, approximately 4 out of every 10 calls to 1577-0199 failed to be connected to counseling.
A larger problem is that the extent of calls not connected to counseling is not even understood nationally.
Through an information disclosure request, Suwon Ilbo confirmed the operational status of 1577-0199 across 16 metropolitan local governments nationwide. Only three Seoul metropolitan area jurisdictions—Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and Incheon—are compiling overall incoming call volumes and unhandled call numbers.
The remaining 13 metropolitan local governments reportedly do not track how many calls came in or how many failed to be connected to counseling.
However, 1577-0199 is not exclusively for suicide crisis calls. It also handles mental health counseling on depression and anxiety, as well as mental health information and medical institution guidance. Therefore, not all 58,915 unhandled calls in the Seoul metropolitan area can be viewed as coming from citizens in suicide crisis.
Nevertheless, the Ministry of Health and Welfare operates 1577-0199 as a mental health crisis counseling hotline handling suicide crisis counseling and links it with the suicide prevention counseling hotline 109. However, the ministry has not established appropriate standards or evaluations for the response rate of 1577-0199.
A Ministry of Health and Welfare official said, "1577-0199 is a telephone line operated by local mental health and welfare centers" and "issues with local telephone connections are not something the ministry can directly control."
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