▲ This file photo, taken Sept. 5, 2023, shows a pharmacy in Seoul. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Oct. 5 (Yonhap) -- Delinquent premiums owed by foreigners and overseas Koreans enrolled in South Korea's state health insurance system totaled 37.5 billion won (US$27.9 million) as of the end of 2025, a government report showed Monday.

According to the National Assembly Budget Office report, unpaid premiums rose 42 percent from 26.4 billion won in 2021, while the number of delinquent households jumped 58.1 percent from 21,728 to 34,349 over the same period.

Foreign nationals accounted for the vast majority of delinquent households, with 33,725 owing 34.4 billion won, it said.

Over the past five years, 134,505 cases totaling 47.7 billion won have been written off as uncollectible, the report said.

Under current law, health insurance benefits are suspended while an insured person is abroad.

However, some foreign workers have reportedly left their foreigner registration cards and health insurance eligibility behind when returning home or traveling overseas, allowing people who remain in South Korea to use their identities to receive medical treatment.

In some cases, some people have reportedly used the names and identities of those who have already left the country to obtain expensive prescription-only drugs and send them overseas.

The office said authorities should strengthen collection efforts before foreigners and overseas Koreans leave the country and establish a monitoring system to track changes in their residency status and promptly suspend their health insurance benefits.

It added that such measures are needed to prevent unpaid premiums from being written off after insured individuals leave the country.

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