Hong Nam-ki "Extension of Airport Facility Usage Fee Reduction Deadline Until December" (Update)

15th Emergency Economic Central Countermeasures Headquarters

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki is delivering opening remarks while presiding over the "15th Emergency Economic Central Countermeasures Headquarters Meeting" held at the Government Seoul Office in Gwanghwamun, Seoul on the 27th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The government has decided to further extend the period of reduction and deferred payment for airport facility usage fees and commercial facility rents to minimize the damage to the aviation industry struggling due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

On the 27th, Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, announced this during his opening remarks while presiding over the 5th Emergency Economic Central Countermeasures Headquarters meeting held at the Government Seoul Office.

The government had already designated the air passenger transport industry and others as special employment support sectors until March next year on the 20th. The employment retention subsidy period was also extended by 60 days (from 180 days to 240 days). Following these measures, the period for fee reductions such as parking fees and landing fees for airlines and ground handling companies will be extended from the original end of August this year to the end of December (support effect of about 29 billion KRW). Additionally, rents for commercial facilities (duty-free shops, banks, etc.) located in airport passenger terminals will be reduced in proportion to the 'passenger decrease rate' (support effect of about 430 billion KRW), thereby expanding the scope of reductions. The deadline for airport facility usage fee reductions will be extended from March-August to March-December, and the commercial facility rents originally scheduled to be paid between September this year and February next year for the March-August period will be further extended by four months to be paid between January and June next year.

Deputy Prime Minister Hong emphasized, "Along with this, we intend to establish an Aviation Industry Development Association with private funds such as airlines in the mid to long term to promote projects such as guarantees for aircraft lease fees, creation of aviation investment funds, and joint purchase of aviation fuel."

At the meeting, the 'Response Direction to Population Structure Changes' prepared jointly by multiple ministries was also discussed. This was an announcement of the measures prepared by the 2nd Task Force, which began activities in January this year, following the measures prepared by the 1st Population Policy Task Force in the second half of last year.

Deputy Prime Minister Hong explained, "Starting a national-level full-scale response to changes in population structure is no longer a choice but a matter of necessity and survival," and added, "To minimize the population shock and strengthen the adaptability of our economy and society, we have prepared key tasks for four major strategies: expanding economic activity participation, improving labor productivity, responding to regional hollowing, and designing systems to cope with aging."

First, to quantitatively supplement the working-age population, economic activity participation will be expanded by class. Measures include expanding the number of times parental leave can be split (currently once), formalizing the domestic service market through the enactment of the Domestic Workers Act, discovering young people who have given up job seeking through community centers and linking them to employment services, and discussing the continuous employment system for the elderly.

In terms of quality, support will be provided to improve the productivity of each individual citizen. This includes strengthening the linkage between lifelong education (Ministry of Education) and vocational training (Ministry of Employment and Labor) and building an integrated platform, introducing Meister universities (in 2021), expanding non-face-to-face education and training courses such as K-MOOC, and developing short-term education modules (3 to 6 months) to enhance job competencies.

To proactively respond to regional hollowing (regional extinction) caused by deepening population structure changes, the government will continue institutional improvements such as establishing a vacant house information system and vacant house transaction network, reducing capital gains tax by 10 percentage points when selling vacant houses to public interest project implementers, easing requirements for young and new fishermen to join fishing villages, and modernizing the elderly driver’s license renewal system. In response to the aging era, the government will promote ▲support for the growth of the elderly-friendly industry and establish a standardization roadmap for elderly-friendly products and services (2021), ▲enact the 'Elderly Financial Damage Prevention Act' to prevent financial exploitation and discrimination against the elderly, and ▲discuss institutional improvements through the formation of the 'Senior Citizen Preferential System Improvement Task Force.'

Separately, the government plans to announce the 4th Basic Plan for Low Fertility and Aging Society (2021-2025), which includes measures to overcome ultra-low fertility, centered on the Low Fertility and Aging Society Committee, within this year.

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