Emergency Support Fund for Special Employment and Freelancers Exceeds 1.5 Trillion Won... "Covered by Reserve Funds"

On the 3rd, partitions are being installed at the counselors' desks at the COVID-19 Emergency Employment Stability Support Fund Support Center in Jung-gu, Seoul to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Photo by Jin-Hyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The total amount paid for the 'COVID-19 Emergency Employment Stability Support Fund,' aimed at special-type workers (teukso), freelancers, small business owners, and unpaid leave workers struggling due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) crisis, has exceeded 1.5 trillion won.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 26th, the amount paid for the Emergency Employment Stability Support Fund was recorded at 1,556.655 billion won as of the previous day.

This amount surpasses the budget allocated for the Emergency Employment Stability Support Fund (1.51 trillion won). The Ministry of Employment and Labor plans to cover the budget shortfall through contingency funds and other means.

The Ministry received a total of 1,763,555 applications for the Emergency Employment Stability Support Fund from June 1 to the 20th of last month. Among these, 1,635,814 cases (92.8%) have been reviewed.

The Emergency Employment Stability Support Fund is a government employment measure targeting those in the blind spots of the employment insurance system who cannot receive unemployment benefits even if they lose their jobs. If certain conditions are met, 1.5 million won per person is paid.

For teukso, freelancers, and small business owners, it must be proven that income or sales during March to April of this year, when COVID-19 spread, decreased by a certain percentage or more compared to the reference period (such as March last year).

Initially, the Emergency Employment Stability Support Fund experienced payment delays due to a surge in applications. In response, the Ministry of Employment and Labor designated a 'concentrated processing period' of about 20 days and deployed all staff to review tasks.

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