Controversial Disaster Relief Funds to Be Distributed Starting Next Month 4th, Beginning with Low-Income Households

On the 28th, during the comprehensive policy inquiry on the second supplementary budget bill for emergency disaster relief payments, most lawmakers' seats were empty. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] As the supplementary budget bill for emergency disaster relief payments has passed the National Assembly plenary session, actual payments are expected to begin starting with low-income households from the 4th of next month. Since it took a month to narrow differences between the ruling party and the opposition, the government plans to expedite the remaining administrative procedures as much as possible.

The National Assembly held a plenary session on the 29th and processed the second supplementary budget bill for emergency disaster relief payments. The plenary session opened at 10:12 p.m. to start processing the supplementary budget and other bills, then adjourned at midnight, reconvening with a change of session to process 95 agenda items including the supplementary budget bill by 12:56 a.m. on the 30th. The government plans to convene a Cabinet meeting on the morning of the 1st of next month to propose and approve the supplementary budget announcement and allocation plan.

Accordingly, the government plans to start distributing disaster relief payments to 21.71 million households, beginning with 2.7 million low-income households as early as the 4th of next month. For low-income households, the government already has the necessary personal information for payment, so cash will be provided without a separate application. This includes households receiving basic livelihood security benefits or disability pensions, and payments will be made automatically without requiring visits to local governments for verification, with individual notifications sent via text messages or other means.

Other general households will receive payments starting from the 11th of next month after applying, in the form of credit or debit card points, local government gift certificates, or prepaid cards. In-person applications will begin on the 18th of next month. If the payment is not claimed within three months, it will be automatically reclaimed by the national treasury. The support funds for general households cannot be used at large supermarkets, department stores, or online malls, and must be spent within three months of receipt. The exact eligible business sectors and usage period will be announced after further discussions.

The most anticipated confusion is whether the actual payment amount will be reduced based on local government decisions. The planned total disaster relief fund is 14.3 trillion won, of which 2.1 trillion won is to be borne by local governments. Gyeonggi-do has already provided support payments (disaster basic income) and has refused additional local government contributions. Therefore, there will be no duplicate payments for amounts already disbursed. On the other hand, Seoul City has allowed duplicate payments regardless of the contribution amount. Due to differing situations and judgments among local governments, confusion and fairness controversies among recipients are expected to be inevitable.

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