South Korea’s national health insurance system recorded a $2.8 billion (3.9 trillion won) deficit in the first quarter, according to National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) data provided to Democratic Party lawmaker Jeon Jin-sook. Revenue totaled $15.9 billion (22.44 trillion won) while spending reached $18.7 billion (26.34 trillion won), reducing accumulated reserves from $21.5 billion (30.22 trillion won) at the end of 2025 to $18.7 billion (26.32 trillion won) by the end of March.

The quarterly shortfall comes after five consecutive annual surpluses, although the size of those surpluses had been shrinking. An NHIS projection reported in Januaryestimated that the