Insurance policies sold through broadcast advertising, which includes insurance advertising on television, leads to mis-selling three times higher than those sold through other channels, according to South Korean financial regulator Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).
According to a news report in the Seoul Economic Daily, the regulator held a meeting on 1 October 2026, with the compliance officers of insurance companies, home-shopping-affiliated insurance agencies (corporate GAs), together with the Korea Life Insurance Association and the General Insurance Association of Korea, to discuss these issues and also improvements to certain broadcast advertisements for insurance products and any shortcomings in consumer protection systems.
The regulator said it would rein in insurance advertisements that excessively play on consumer anxiety and the desire for compensation and would draw up measures to improve them.
The FSS said till now the emphasis was on self-regulation led by the industry associations to stamp out false and exaggerated advertising, however, that has not been very successful and insurers still tend to repeatedly release advertisements that prompt impulsive purchases.
Some insurers in their releases proclaim that policyholders could collect benefits multiple times or highlight coverage in bold type while printing the grounds for denying payment in thin, faint lettering. Fear-based marketing was also repeated, including dramatisations of families caring for sick relatives and their grief, and re-enactments of traffic accidents.
Broadcast advertising for insurance products has also surged. Insurance advertisements aired last year averaged 1,121 spots a day, up 66.9% from 672 in 2024. Total airtime rose 65.2% from a year earlier to 57 hours.
The mis-selling rate for policies sold through broadcast ads was 0.036%, three times the 0.012% rate for other sales channels. The 13th-month persistency rate for such policies was 79.3%, below the 86.3% recorded for other channels. Buyers aged 70 and over accounted for 13.4% of these policies, compared with 7.4% through other channels, indicating a need to overhaul related internal controls, the FSS said.