Insurance policies sold through broadcast advertising in South Korea recorded a mis-selling rate three times higher than policies sold through other channels, according to figures from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).
The rate for policies sold through broadcast advertising was 0.036%, compared with 0.012% for other sales channels. Persistency at the 13th month was also lower for broadcast policies, at 79.3% against 86.3% for other channels, Seoul Economic Daily reported.
The figures show different outcomes between channels, rather than establishing that broadcast advertising itself caused them.
The findings come as insurers have stepped up their use of broadcast advertising. Insurance advertisements averaged 1,121 spots a day in 2025, up 66.9% from 672 a day in 2024. Total advertising airtime increased 65.2% year on year to 57 hours a day.
The FSS said it had identified problems involving repeated broadcasts, provocative wording and exaggerated expressions that could contribute to incomplete sales and impulsive purchases. It also raised concerns about advertisements that highlight the ability to receive benefits multiple times, while giving less prominence to conditions that could limit payments.
Other examples included advertisements featuring families caring for sick relatives, grief, and re-enactments of traffic accidents.
The FSS held a meeting on October 1 with the Korea Life Insurance Association, the General Insurance Association of Korea, insurers, and general agencies (GAs) affiliated with home-shopping channels to discuss changes to broadcast insurance advertising. The meeting included 13 home-shopping GA corporate branches, according to SBS News.
Customers aged 70 and over accounted for 13.4% of policies sold through broadcast advertising, compared with 7.4% through other channels. That does not mean older customers were individually more likely to be mis-sold, but it does mean they make up a larger share of the business the channel generates.
The FSS has called for stronger internal controls at insurers and GAs, and wants consumer protection functions involved from the advertising production stage.
The regulator said existing industry-led reviews have limitations, particularly for live home-shopping broadcasts, where relying on reviews after transmission can leave gaps. It wants the life and general insurance associations to strengthen their review standards for broadcast advertising.
The FSS is also seeking wider disclosure of broadcast advertising activity, including the frequency and duration of broadcasts by insurer and the status of the associations' reviews. The official record of the meeting lists stronger association review standards, more effective sanctions, expanded disclosure, and stronger internal controls at insurers and GAs among the measures discussed.
Sanctions are a particular focus. SBS reported that home-shopping insurance advertisements had received only one warning in the previous five years. The current sanction threshold for incomplete sales is 0.4%, more than 13 times the industry average of 0.03%.
The FSS said the threshold should be reconsidered. For insurers and the GAs that sell through home-shopping channels, a lower threshold would bring broadcast sales much closer to enforcement than they have been.
