고의로 인한 보험사고 여부 등에 대한 판단기준에 관한 연구 - 대법원 2023. 5. 18. 선고 2022다238800 판결을 중심으로 -

Suicide is on the decline in the Republic of Korea. However, the current suicide rate in the Republic of Korea is the highest among OECD member countries. The Korean court needs to apply the insurance legal provisions more strictly to prevent suicide. The Korean Commercial Act stipulates that the insurance company is not responsible for paying insurance in the event of an insurance accident on purpose. However, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Korea is taking an attitude that it must have "(insurance) responsibility" in order to recognize “intention“. In the Republic of Korea, whether insurance should be paid for suicide continues to be a problem. This is because the insurance policy requires insurance money to be paid if the insured commits suicide in a state “where he or she cannot make free decisions(free decision-making)”. The recent Supreme Court of the Republic of Korea ruling on suicide has focused too much on neuropsychiatric views. Neuropsychiatrists tend to assess that not all mentally ill people commit suicide, but most of them have medically suffered from mental illness. As a result, the recent Supreme Court ruling has lost its legal rigor. As a result, the burden on well-intentioned(honest) insurance consumers is increasing, and accident insurance that originally does not protect mental illness has reached a situation where financial incentives for suicide are provided. Suicide is a deliberate(on purpose; intentional) accident that goes against the principle of insurance. Also, mental illnesses such as depression(mental illness) are not a protected area of accident insurance. Recent Supreme Court rulings could cause moral hazard. If the criteria for suicide are eased, the criteria for intentional insurance accidents will eventually be eased. In the future, the Supreme Court's ruling should take a stricter attitude toward suicide.