Recent figures from Korea’s Workers’ Compensation & Welfare Service reveal that over the past five years, 42.9 percent of approved industrial accident claims for mental health conditions—such as depression and adjustment disorders—have involved workers in their 20s and 30s.

Between January 2021 and August 2026, a total of 2,602 claims for work-related mental disorders were approved. Of these, 1,117 cases involved workers aged 20–39, underscoring a growing mental health burden among younger employees.

Applications for mental-health–related industrial accident claims by 20- and 30-somethings rose by 32.1 percent over the same period. In contrast, claim filings from workers in their 40s and 50s declined by 11 percent.

Alarmingly, at least 230 approved survivor’s benefits claims during this period were linked to workplace-related suicides. Young workers in their 20s and 30s accounted for 66 of these cases.

Approval rates for mental-health claims have fallen across all age groups. For workers in their 20s and 30s, the approval rate dropped from 69.9 percent in 2021 to 59.6 percent in 2025. Workers in their 40s and 50s saw a decline from 71.1 percent to 53.6 percent over the same span.

Lawmaker Choi Ki-sang emphasized the need for the state to take responsibility for preventing mental health crises among young workers. He called for earlier detection of workplace risk factors and a more refined industrial safety and health framework to curb the rise in work-related psychological harm.