Contentious clause makes family members liable for actions of their relatives
Medical staff walk through a Seoul hospital in this Sept. 1 photo. (Yonhap) South Korean government said Sunday it is considering a legal revision to remove liability for the actions and safety of family members with mentally illnesses,
as one of the key projects detailed in a government-commissioned plan for 2026-30 that has been rolled out.
The Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs’ five-year plan was established under commission of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which includes the content about rights and treatment of the mentally ill.
A focal point of the plan is possible revision of the Mental Health Act, which states that the patient’s legal guardian is responsible for their protection.
But critics say the clauses place the burden of responsibility solely on the families, and that it should be shared by the government.
Article 22 of the Mental Health Act specifies that the duties of guardians include ensuring that the patients in their care do not harm themselves or other people. It adds that patients may be hospitalized with the diagnosis of a psychiatrist.
In practice, these two stipulations can leave guardians in an impossible situation. Kim Yeong-hee, an official of the Korea Family Association for Mentally Disabled, said that the guardians do not have the authority to forcibly hospitalize those in their care who are showing signs of a violent outburst. The association’s activities include work to improve the lives of people with mental illnesses, as well as those with disabilities.
In his column, Kim pointed to a 2019 arson case that caused five deaths and 17 injuries. The brother of the arsonist tried to have him hospitalized for mental illness but he refused. He said that forced hospitalization needed a doctor’s approval, but that this was hard to get if the person with the illness refused to be examined.
“What would you do if your family member has severe mental illness and presents danger to one and others, but is refusing to even visit the hospital?” Kim said in his 2024 column.
Emergency hospitalization can also be initiated by the police or government bodies, but Health Ministry data for 2019 shows that hospitalization was initiated by a legal guardian in more than two-thirds of cases. Emergency hospitalizations led by police or the government each accounts for 22.2 percent and 10 percent.
The KFAMD has been pushing for a system that places a more active role to the state authorities to intervene if a person with mental illness presents danger, and to abolish the clause that places the primary responsibility on one’s families.
Other projects in KIHASA’s plan include boosting the rights of the mentally ill, such as abolishing restrictions on them obtaining state-approved licenses. Such restrictions span across licenses to run child care and postnatal care centers — which are banned unconditionally — and licenses to be hairstylists or hygienists, which are allowed under a medical expert’s approval.
KIHASA’s plan will be subject to review by the government, which will devise a plan based on it. That plan will go through a public hearing that is likely to be held in late November of early December, according to Health Ministry officials.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com