Gwangju City to Distribute Emergency Household Living Expenses Starting from the 13th

Gwangju City Hall

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 13th that it will begin distributing emergency household living expenses to households with an income at or below 100% of the median income to help overcome the COVID-19 crisis.

On the first day of distribution, the recipients are 12,000 households whose income verification and eligibility determination were completed by the 12th, with a total payment amount of approximately 4.8 billion KRW.

Households determined eligible will be notified and can visit their local administrative welfare center with identification to receive the living expenses loaded onto a prepaid Gwangju Sangsaeng Card: 300,000 KRW for 1-2 person households, 400,000 KRW for 3-4 person households, and 500,000 KRW for households of 5 or more.

The supported Gwangju Sangsaeng Card can be used at all restaurants, small marts, convenience stores, and traditional markets within Gwangju, excluding department stores, large supermarkets, and entertainment establishments. To revitalize the local economy, the card must be used within three months from the date of issuance, and lost cards will not be reissued.

As of the 12th, the number of households that applied for the emergency household living expenses reached about 400,000, far exceeding the city’s initial estimate of 260,000 households.

Going forward, the city will continue to expedite income verification and related procedures to sequentially distribute the Gwangju Sangsaeng Cards to households whose payment eligibility has been confirmed.

Applications are accepted until the 8th of next month, and inquiries regarding applications and payments can be made through the 120 call center or the local administrative welfare center.

Meanwhile, the city’s emergency household living expenses received explosive interest from citizens, with about 290,000 applications submitted in the first week after online applications opened this month.

Initially, it was expected that processing applications, income verification, and payment decisions would take considerable time due to overlapping periods for election management tasks and distribution of consumption coupons to basic livelihood security recipients.

In response, the city deployed 227 support personnel from the Livelihood Economy Protection Support Group and established a cooperative support system involving all organizations in autonomous districts and neighborhoods, enabling income verification to be completed and living expenses to be distributed sequentially starting from the 13th to eligible households.

Lee Pyeong-hyung, Director of the Welfare and Health Bureau, said, “We thank the citizens who actively participated in online applications to practice social distancing. Although there has been some delay in determining payment recipients due to the initial surge in applications, we will do our best to provide prompt support to stabilize the lives of households struggling due to COVID-19 and to help the local economy.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.