Korea Employment Agency for the Disabled Responds to COVID-19 Employment Crisis... Operating Chwiseongpae II

Employment Success Bonus up to 1.5 Million KRW for Those Below 50% Median Income
MOF and Employment Promotion Agreement... Jojongran "Expanding Public Office Opportunities for Disabled"

Officials from the Korea Employment Agency for the Disabled and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries are taking a commemorative photo at the disability employment promotion agreement ceremony held via video conference on the 14th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] This year marks the 40th "Day of Persons with Disabilities (April 20)," but due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the employment situation for persons with disabilities has become more severe than ever. As the employment downturn continues, there are concerns that jobs for vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities will freeze solid first.

To proactively respond to the employment crisis, the Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities announced on the 21st that it will establish and operate a new type II Disability Employment Success Package tailored for low-income individuals. The Employment Success Package is an integrated employment support service that starts with assessing the job-seeking capabilities of persons with disabilities, followed by vocational training and intensive job placement stages. In the first stage of counseling and diagnosis, participants receive a participation allowance of up to 250,000 KRW, and when participating in training to improve vocational skills in the second stage, they receive a monthly training participation allowance of 280,000 KRW. Even after employment, they can receive employment success allowances based on the length of continuous employment: 300,000 KRW after 3 months, 400,000 KRW at 6 months, and 800,000 KRW after one year, with a maximum total employment success allowance of 1,500,000 KRW.

The existing type I program is open to any person with disabilities aged 18 to 69, but the newly established type II program is designed for persons with disabilities whose income is below 50% of the median income. Counseling tailored to individual disability characteristics and capabilities has been strengthened, and vocational training such as new security guard training, which enables early employment, has been expanded. Unlike type I, type II also provides a job-seeking promotion allowance of 300,000 KRW per month for up to three months to support stable job search activities. The agency plans to invest 14.921 billion KRW in the Disability Employment Success Package program this year, supporting 8,000 people under type I and 1,000 people under type II. This aligns with the current government's inclusive growth and vulnerable group job expansion policies, aiming to eliminate blind spots in employment services for low-income groups and actively support their entry into the labor market.

Additionally, the agency recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to promote employment for persons with disabilities. This agreement was established as the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, as a central administrative agency, recognizes its social responsibility for employing persons with disabilities and aims to play a leading role. The ministry has exceeded the mandatory employment rate of 3.4% for persons with disabilities by conducting special recruitment for persons with disabilities and experienced recruitment for severely disabled persons during civil servant hiring. However, since the proportion of persons with disabilities working in simple clerical or labor jobs is high and the proportion of disabled civil servants holding technical or functional certificates is low, this agreement will expand job positions for persons with disabilities and open doors to public office. The ministry plans to conduct disability awareness education at affiliated institutions and provide grievance counseling training for HR personnel to support the adaptation of disabled civil servants to public office.

Jo Jong-ran, President of the Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities, stated, "With the signing of the agreement with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, more opportunities will be given to persons with disabilities who wish to enter public office, and quality jobs will be created. We will actively support the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries so that it can fulfill its social responsibility through the employment of persons with disabilities."

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced the purchase performance of products from disability standard workplaces in public institutions last year in commemoration of the Day of Persons with Disabilities. Last year, the total purchase amount of products from disability standard workplaces by 840 public institutions, including national, local governments, and local public enterprises, was 399.3 billion KRW, accounting for 0.78% of the total purchases by public institutions.

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