Park Han-sol reports on Korea's financial regulators, along with fintech and insurance. She previously wrote about the art world, from biennales and exhibitions to fairs and auctions, with a focus on Seoul and the figures shaping the scene. Before joining The Korea Times, she spent a year at ABC News' Seoul bureau, contributing to coverage of major Asia-Pacific events.
Insurers should evolve into risk management platform from post-compensation model: report
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By Park Han-sol
The insurance sector is evolving beyond its traditional role as a provider of post-accident compensation, repositioning itself as a more risk management platform, according to a report released Thursday.
In its “Next in Insurance 2030” report, Samil PwC, Korea’s largest accounting firm by revenue, said insurers face growing structural uncertainty fueled by global pressures, including geopolitical instability and extreme climate events.
In this environment, future competitiveness will depend on insurers’ ability to harness data and artificial intelligence (AI), build stronger external partnerships and fundamentally reshape how they engage with customers. Rather than relying on piecemeal adaptation, the report argues, insurers must rethink their entire value chain.
PwC outlined four stages of industry transformation.
The first describes insurers that maintain largely traditional business structures while making only limited, reactive improvements despite external disruption.
The second stage focuses on leveraging AI and advanced data capabilities to improve operational efficiency while enhancing customer experience. This is currently the most realistic transition stage for many insurers.
The third represents a more fundamental restructuring in which service delivery, risk management and organizational operations are redesigned around customer needs. Rather than offering fragmented products, insurers integrate protection and services across the customer’s full life cycle.
The final stage envisions a deeper reinvention of the industry itself — one in which insurance expands beyond compensating losses after accidents to proactively preventing risks and mitigating potential harm before crises occur.
To reach this stage, the report emphasized several strategic priorities, including strengthening core capabilities in data and AI, advancing more sophisticated risk detection and management systems.