A sickness benefit for all, leaving no one behind.

South Korea's pilot sickness benefit program, launched in 2022 across six regions and currently operating in 14 regions as of 2025, represents a critical juncture in the country's social protection development. While ostensibly designed with inclusive eligibility criteria, the program reveals fundamental paradoxes that illuminate deeper structural inequalities within Korea's dualized labor market. This opinion piece examines how current design choices risk undermining universal health coverage goals by systematically excluding the most precarious workers.

An evolution of socioeconomic inequalities in self-rated health in Korea: Evidence from Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) 1998-2018.

Reducing socioeconomic inequalities in health has become an important health policy agenda. This study aimed to measure socioeconomic inequalities in health in Korea over the past two decades and identify the contributing factors to the observed inequalities. Data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) from 1998 to 2016/2018 were utilized.

The impacts of working time flexibilization on occupational safety and health: an expert survey.

The policy proposal by the current Korean government that proposes flexible overtime rules is causing social controversy. This study has explored the 612 experts' opinions on the occupational safety and health impacts of the policy using an online self-report survey. They expected short-term overwork (87.

Illustrating the impact of commercial determinants of health on the global COVID-19 pandemic: Thematic analysis of 16 country case studies.

Previous research on commercial determinants of health has primarily focused on their impact on non-communicable diseases. However, they also impact on infectious diseases and on the broader preconditions for health. We describe, through case studies in 16 countries, how commercial determinants of health were visible during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how they may have influenced national responses and health outcomes.

Gender differences in tuberculosis patients with comorbidity: A cross-sectional study using national surveillance data and national health insurance claims data in South Korea.

The coexistence of tuberculosis and other chronic diseases complicates disease management. Particularly, the lack of information on the difference in the prevalence of chronic diseases in tuberculosis based on age and gender can hinder the establishment of appropriate public health strategies. This study aimed to identify age- and gender-based differences in the prevalence of chronic diseases as comorbidities in patients with tuberculosis.

Maternal socioeconomic position and inequity in child deaths: An analysis of 2012 South Korean birth cohort of 466,636 children.

Background: Inequalities in child mortality occur via interactions between socio-environmental factors and their constituents. Through childhood developmental stages, we can observe changing patterns of mortality. By investigating these patterns and social inequalities by cause and developmental stage, we aim to gain insights into health policies to reduce and equalize childhood mortality.

Inequitable distribution of excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea, 2020.

Objectives: This study analyzed inequities in excess mortality according to region and socioeconomic position to explain the distribution of excess mortality in Korea in 2020.

Methods: We acquired weekly all-cause mortality data from January 2015 to December 2020 from (1) the National Health Insurance Database and (2) Vital Statistics. Excess mortality for 2020 was calculated by comparing the weekly observed and expected deaths from the same period (2015-2019) using quasi-Poisson regression.

The Gendered Pathways Through Which Intimate Partner Violence Affects Health: Exploring the Role of Unmet Healthcare Needs.

The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between intimate partner violence (IPV), gender, unmet healthcare needs, and health. Specifically, this study identified how unmet healthcare needs mediate the relationship between IPV and health, and how this mediation is moderated by gender. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) ( = 15,425), we first estimated ordinary least squares regression models to investigate the association between IPV and self-rated health.

Response to COVID-19 in social welfare facilities and the psychological state of social workers in South Korea: The mediating role of satisfaction with government.

This paper investigated associations between COVID-19 responses in social welfare facilities and the psychological state of social workers together with the potential mediating role of satisfaction with the government. During the COVID-19 pandemic, following government guidelines, social workers have continued to provide social services to the vulnerable groups. However, no research has been conducted focusing on their psychological state.

Is limited access to obstetric services associated with adverse birth outcomes? A cross-sectional study of Korean national birth data.

Objectives: The geographical disparity in the access to essential obstetric services is a public health issue in many countries. We explored the association between timely access to obstetric services and the individual risk of adverse birth outcomes.

Design: Repeated cross-sectional design.

Occupational differences in personal care product use and urinary concentration of endocrine disrupting chemicals by gender.

Background: In most societies, women and men systematically differ in consumption of cosmetics and household products, which are interlinked with gendered norms and occupational segregation. We investigated the differences in personal care product (PCP) use and exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) based on occupation and gender.

Methods: We utilized data from the first to third Korean National Environmental Health Survey analyzing 9218 participants aged 20-59 years engaged in their current occupation for ≥3 months.

Contracting Out National Immunization Program Does Not Improve Vaccination Rate Nor Socioeconomic Inequality: A Case Study of Seasonal Influenza Vaccination in South Korea.

The objective of the present study was to investigate if the policy for contracting out the Korean influenza National Immunization Program (NIP) for individuals aged ≥ 65 years affects a reduction in vaccination inequality based on gender and socioeconomic position (SEP). In South Korea, initially only public health centers provided influenza vaccination for free; however, starting from the fall of 2015, the program was expanded to include private medical institutions. The policy was expected to improve overall vaccination rate and reduce its inequality, through improving access to vaccination.

Low-wage migrant workers during coronavirus disease 2019: a social determinants analysis.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pandemic has had disproportionate effects on economically and socially marginalized people. We explore the effects on low-wage migrant workers (migrant workers) in three countries: Singapore, South Korea and Brazil, through the lens of the social determinants of health. Our analysis shows that governments missed key opportunities to mitigate pandemic risks for migrant workers.

Variability in daily or weekly working hours and self-reported mental health problems in Korea, Korean working condition survey, 2017.

Background: Working hour regulation in Korea is being revised to allow increasing variability in number of working hours. We sought to investigate the association between variability in the number of daily or weekly working hours with or without long working hours (> 52 h/w) and mental health among South Korean workers.

Methods: We used data from 28,345 full-time, non-shift employed workers working more than 30 h per week participating in the Korean Working Condition Survey in 2017.

Mainstreaming of Health Equity in Infectious Disease Control Policy During the COVID-19 Pandemic Era.

The Korean government's strategy to combat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has focused on non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as social distancing and wearing masks, along with testing, tracing, and treatment; overall, its performance has been relatively good compared to that of many other countries heavily affected by COVID-19. However, little attention has been paid to health equity in measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic. The study aimed to examine the unequal impacts of COVID-19 across socioeconomic groups and to suggest potential solutions to tackle these inequalities.

Estimation of the number of working population at high-risk of COVID-19 infection in Korea.

Objectives: We aimed to identify occupational groups at high-risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection in Korea, to estimate the number of such workers, and to examine the prevalence of protective resources by employment status.

Methods: Based on the sixth Standard Occupational Classification codes, 2015 census data were linked with data from the fifth Korean Working Conditions Survey, which measured how frequently workers directly come into contact with people other than fellow employees in the workplace.

Results: A total of 30 occupational groups, including 7 occupations from the healthcare and welfare sectors and 23 from other sectors, were classified as high-risk occupational groups involving frequent contact with people other than fellow employees in the workplace (more than half of the working hours).

Gender Analysis of COVID-19 Outbreak in South Korea: A Common Challenge and Call for Action.

This study aims to analyze South Korea's experience during the COVID-19 outbreak through a gendered lens. We briefly introduce the COVID-19 outbreak in Korea, scrutinize gendered vulnerability in contracting the virus, and then analyze the gendered aspects of the pandemic response in two phases: quarantine policy and mitigation policy. The authors elicit four lessons from the analysis.

Did the extended coverage policy contribute to alleviating socioeconomic inequality in untreated dental caries of both children and adolescents in South Korea?

Background: Dental sealants have been covered by the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) since December 2009 in South Korea. This study aims to determine whether the socioeconomic inequality in untreated dental caries decreased after implementing the extended coverage policy for dental sealant.

Methods: The data were derived from the fourth (2007-2009) and sixth (2013-2015) waves of the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) conducted by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

Semiconductor Work and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes Associated with Male Workers: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Objectives: A hazardous work environment in semiconductor factories is a threat to the workers' health. Semiconductor manufacturing characteristically requires young workers, and reproductive toxicity is an important issue. Studies investigating reproductive toxicity among individuals working in the semiconductor manufacturing industry have primarily focused on outcomes in women.

Inequalities in oral health among adolescents in Gangneung, South Korea.

Background: This study aims to evaluate inequality in oral health among adolescents and to explain the mechanisms of such inequalities in Gangneung, South Korea.

Methods: One thousand two hundred sixty-seven students in their first year from four vocational and three general schools participated in the baseline survey of 2011, and 84.7% of them were surveyed again in 2013.