Gwangju City "Use Emergency Household Living Expenses by the 30th"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 18th that the use of the 'Household Emergency Living Expense' mutual aid card, which was selectively provided to low-income households with less than 100% of the median income as of the first half of the year to overcome the COVID-19 crisis, will be available until the 30th of this month.

The Household Emergency Living Expense was open for applications online and offline from April 1 to May 8, and interest was high with 520,000 households applying, accounting for more than 83% of the total 620,000 households in Gwangju.

Gwangju City conducted income verification through the Social Security Information System to select 291,684 households eligible under the criterion of less than 100% of the median income among the applicants and provided support amounting to 100.3 billion won.

Currently, 98.3% of the Household Emergency Living Expense mutual aid card, totaling 99.68 billion won, has been spent, and 620 million won remains unused.

By usage sector, marts and groceries accounted for the largest portion at 45.6% (45.4 billion won), followed by restaurants at 20.2% (20.1 billion won). Hospitals and pharmacies, clothing and miscellaneous goods, and fuel followed in order.

The usage period for the Household Emergency Living Expense mutual aid card was originally until August 31, the same as the national emergency disaster relief fund, but considering those who had not used it, it was extended until September 30. Unused balances will be reclaimed by local governments.

Ryu Mi-su, Director of the Social Welfare Division of Gwangju City, said, “The Household Emergency Living Expense, along with the national disaster relief fund, was a valuable support that gave great strength to the citizens of Gwangju struggling with COVID-19 and helped revive the local economy. As the usage period has been extended until the 30th of this month, we hope everyone will use their Household Emergency Living Expense mutual aid cards completely.”

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