All 5.18 Merit Recipients in Jeonnam Receive 'Democracy Honor Allowance'

Seunghee Woo, Jeonnam Provincial Assembly Member, Proposes Ordinance Amendment to Establish New Monthly Honorary Allowance of 60,000 KRW for Democrats

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] All 5.18 Democratic Merit Awardees in Jeonnam region will receive a monthly “Democratic Honor Allowance” of 60,000 KRW.

According to the Jeonnam Provincial Council on the 14th, the “Partial Amendment to the Ordinance on the Payment of Living Support Funds for 5.18 Democratic Merit Awardees in Jeollanam-do,” which was proposed by Representative Woo Seunghee, passed the relevant standing committee review at the 341st extraordinary session on the 13th.

The current ordinance provides a monthly living support payment of 130,000 KRW only to 5.18 Democratic Merit Awardees in financial difficulty, but the amendment adds a clause to provide all 5.18 Democratic Merit Awardees with a monthly Democratic Honor Allowance of 60,000 KRW, lowers the existing living support payment to 70,000 KRW, and changes its name to Living Support Fund.

Merit awardees who previously received the living support payment will see a reduction in that support but will newly receive the Democratic Honor Allowance, resulting in no overall change in the total amount.

The total number of 5.18 Democratic Merit Awardees in Jeonnam who will receive the Democratic Honor Allowance is reported to be 716, including 246 merit awardees currently receiving the Living Support Fund.

Representative Woo Seunghee explained, “Under the current preferential treatment system, which selectively provides living support payments based on income level, two-thirds of 5.18 merit awardees do not receive support. To properly honor the sacrifice and dedication for democratization on the 40th anniversary of 5.18 this year, we prepared the ordinance amendment.”

She added, “We expect honorable and practical recognition for the 5.18 Democratic Merit Awardees who did not hesitate to sacrifice for democratization.”

Meanwhile, the ordinance, having passed the standing committee, is scheduled for final approval at the 4th plenary session of the 344th extraordinary session on the 22nd.

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