Gwangju City Provides Emergency Support in 6 Sectors Including Culture and Arts Hit Hard by COVID-19

Protecting the Local Economy from COVID-19: Announcement of the 8th Livelihood Stabilization Measures

Mayor Lee Yong-seop: "We will promptly prepare emergency support measures for heavy rain damage"

On the morning of the 12th, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, announced the "8th Livelihood Stabilization Measures to Protect the Local Economy" through a non-face-to-face online press conference. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] The Gwangju Metropolitan City announced the 8th Livelihood Stabilization Measures, which provide a total of 2.1 billion KRW in support to six sectors including culture, arts, and tourism, which are suffering greatly due to COVID-19.

On the morning of the 12th, Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop held a non-face-to-face online press conference and stated, “The economic aftershocks brought by COVID-19 are very severe,” adding, “We are focusing administrative efforts on revitalizing the local economy through emergency support for vulnerable groups and local businesses hit hard by COVID-19.”

Since March, Gwangju has implemented seven rounds of livelihood stabilization measures totaling 179.6 billion KRW, benefiting about 900,000 people. Through the 8th measures announced today, a total of 2.1 billion KRW will be urgently injected into 1,510 business sites.

First, Gwangju will provide 2 million KRW each to about 500 local travel agencies on the brink of collapse due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

The support targets currently operating travel agencies, and will actively back the planning and development of new travel products and online/offline marketing in response to the paradigm shift in non-face-to-face culture and tourism.

Emergency operating funds of 1 million KRW each will also be provided to cultural and artistic performers who are struggling to make a living due to restrictions on mass gatherings caused by COVID-19.

The support targets are about 300 professional cultural and artistic organizations based in Gwangju, including music, theater, dance, and exhibitions, which must prove activity in Gwangju at least once a year for the past two years.

Gwangju has also prepared support measures for village buses, which are facing great difficulties in operation due to a recent decrease in passengers and a sharp drop in transportation revenue.

The city will provide 1 million KRW each to 48 village buses that continue to operate for citizens’ convenience despite passenger declines. Additionally, for 16 village buses that suspended operations due to financial difficulties, 1 million KRW will be provided over two months if they resume service.

To prevent the spread of local COVID-19 infections, Gwangju also announced support measures for sports facilities that were closed due to ‘gathering bans’ administrative orders.

From the 12th of last month to the 2nd of this month, during the second wave of local infections, 83 indoor group exercise sports facilities (Zumba, Tae Bo, spinning, aerobics, dance sports, etc.) in the city that were subject to gathering bans will receive 700,000 KRW per facility.

In addition, Gwangju is providing compensation up to 3 million KRW per business according to government support standards to businesses suffering significant damage and hardship due to visits by confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Mayor Lee Yong-seop said, “The budgets injected as emergency transfusions in this unprecedented crisis will alleviate the crisis of the common economy and serve as a pillar to protect the local economy,” adding, “Along with emergency support for vulnerable sectors, we will also speed up the implementation of the ‘Gwangju-type 3 Major New Deal Policies’ to fundamentally create stable jobs and revitalize the local economy.”

He continued, “Citizens have suffered enormous damage and are deeply distressed due to the recent heavy rains,” and said, “While putting all administrative efforts into flood recovery, we will promptly assess the damage scale and announce emergency support measures as soon as possible.”

Meanwhile, Gwangju has also requested the government to designate the area as a special disaster zone.

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