The government issued a legal interpretation document saying that a reinsurer with its headquarters overseas may transfer personal credit information to its headquarters for business purposes without the data subject's consent. Earlier, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) noted last year that it needed a clear document confirming this, and this is a follow-up step.
According to the industry on the 6th, relevant ministries including the Financial Services Commission and the Personal Information Protection Commission recently jointly released a legal interpretation document stating that "a reinsurer may transfer personal credit information to an overseas head office, an affiliate, or a third party for the purpose of outsourcing business without additional consent from the data subject." The government interpreted that "outsourcing the processing of personal credit information related to reinsurance contracts constitutes outsourcing necessary to reliably enter into and perform a contract with the data subject."
Reinsurance is insurance purchased by an insurer to disperse the risk of insurance contracts. Earlier, in the 2025 National Trade Estimate (NTE) report released in April last year, USTR said that "the Korean government must confirm in a clear document its interpretation that foreign reinsurers operating in Korea may transfer personal credit information to their headquarters for purposes such as contract underwriting and risk management."
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) issued an authoritative interpretation in 2021 that this does not violate domestic law, but U.S. reinsurers demanded documentation, saying that the interpretation was not being applied in practice.
Most foreign reinsurers enter the market in the form of branches. Foreign insurers that establish domestic corporations can conduct underwriting reviews in Korea, but reinsurers operating as branches handle underwriting reviews at their overseas headquarters. At that time, USTR judged that transferring personal credit information needed for underwriting to the headquarters could violate the Credit Information Act or the Personal Information Protection Act and therefore constitutes a "trade barrier."
Foreign reinsurers mainly sell coinsurance to domestic insurers. Coinsurance is a method in which not only risk premiums but all premiums (gross written premiums), including savings premiums, are ceded to the reinsurer.
Premiums paid by subscribers consist of ▲ risk premiums (coverage for death, illness, etc.) ▲ loading (commissions, operating expenses, etc.) ▲ savings premiums (refunds upon maturity or surrender). Under coinsurance, the primary insurer that receives premiums from consumers transfers all three components to the reinsurer, sharing liability for benefit payments. In this process, overseas reinsurers outsource contract underwriting to their headquarters, and some information of domestic policyholders may be transferred to the overseas headquarters.
Foreign reinsurers currently operating in Korea include SCOR, Swiss Re, Munich Re, RGA, Pacific Re, and Generali. With this measure, the number of U.S. reinsurers entering Korea is expected to increase.