She worked as a counseling at Seoul Southern Hana Center, but after the end of protection in 2019, she defaulted on rent and management fees from December 2020 and were unreachable for renewal in January 2021. The Ministry of Health and Welfare selected her as a household in crisis for five times from May 2021 because she failed to pay her telephone and health insurance fees,52) but the local social welfare manager could not find her contact information and unable to see her in person. The Ministry of Unification expressed regret over this incident and announced that it would make efforts to prevent a recurrence.53) In March 2020, the ‘Act on the Prevention and Management of Lonely Deaths’ (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Lonely Death Prevention Act’) was enacted and implemented from April 2021. Since August 2022, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has developed a pilot project to prevent and manage lonely deaths in nine metropolitan municipalities, identified people at risk of lonely deaths based on the result, and planned on finding a prevention project model that can be applied nationwide.54) On Nov. 24, the government released a ‘Plan to Improve the System to Identify and Support Welfare Blind Spots,’ consisting of 12 tasks in 3 areas, in order to quickly and closely support the households at risk through careful identification.55) B) Issues on the Limitations of Welfare by Request and the Current System of Identifying At-Risk Households Considering the economic situations of the mother and two daughters in Suwon, they were eligible for basic livelihood security, including living wages of 1.25 million won per month and housing benefits of 420,000 won per month, right to receive class 1 medical benefits, and up to 50 million won per year for the treatment of incurable diseases for low-income families. Moreover, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s ‘Survey on the Lonely Deaths’ (Dec. 2022), cases that can be regarded as lonely deaths have continuously increased over the past five year (2017-2021), except for 2019. 51) Newsis, Lonely Death of a North Korean Defector-Found Dead After Forcibly Opening the Door, Oct. 26, 2022. 52) The government selects at-risk households by collecting information revealing the signs of crisis, such as arrears in rent, management fees, telephone bills, etc. and water and electricity outages, etc. 53) Yonhap News, “The Ministry of Unification to Re-Inspect the Risk Management System for the North Korean Defectors,” Nov. 10, 2022. 54) Ministry of Health and Welfare Press Release, Jul. 29, 2022. 55) Ministry of Health and Welfare Press Release, Nov. 24, 2022. 25