After Chuseok Holiday, Support for Special Workers, Middle School Families, and Corporate Taxis Begins from the 4th Supplementary Budget

Partial Support Procedures for Small Business Owners Also Restarted

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] The government will resume support procedures for special-type workers (teukgo) and freelancers, as well as small business owners who suffered damage due to the resurgence of COVID-19, as soon as the Chuseok holiday ends. Support for corporate taxi drivers, who were initially excluded from the support targets, is also expected to begin.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Employment and Labor, Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and Ministry of Health and Welfare on the 4th, the government will start the payment procedures for support funds targeting various affected groups and occupations after the Chuseok holiday.

The 2nd emergency employment stabilization subsidy will be provided to new applicants who did not apply for the 1st subsidy, and 200,000 people whose income in August, when COVID-19 resurged, decreased by 25% or more compared to the monthly average of last year or one month between June and July this year will receive 1.5 million KRW (500,000 KRW × 3 months). Applications will be accepted from the 12th to the 23rd of this month, and 200,000 people will be selected as recipients based on comprehensive consideration of annual income (below 50 million KRW) and income reduction rate. The payment is scheduled for November.

Procedures to provide the Youth Special Job-Seeking Support Fund (500,000 KRW) to young people (aged 18-34, unemployed job seekers) facing difficulties in employment will also be additionally activated this month. The payment target this month is 140,000 people who participated in this year's job-seeking program. Applications will be accepted from the 12th to the 24th, with payments planned by the end of November.

Due to the escalation of social distancing, the New Hope Fund for small business owners who experienced difficulties in business will also begin some payment procedures after Chuseok. The payment targets include small business owners in special damage industries where sales verification is difficult with administrative information alone (320,000 under business restrictions and 150,000 under gathering bans). Support funds for these groups (1 million to 2 million KRW) will start being paid this month.

Support funds (1 million KRW) for corporate taxi drivers will be announced at the beginning of this month. For individual taxi drivers, most have already received support in the form of the small business owners' New Hope Fund.

Payment procedures for care support funds (150,000 KRW) for 1.32 million middle school students will be completed by the 8th. For 160,000 out-of-school children, payments will be made this month through application and reception procedures at education support offices. Child allowances (200,000 KRW) for 2.38 million preschool children and 2.64 million elementary school students were mostly completed before Chuseok.

Emergency livelihood support (1 million KRW) procedures for households facing difficulties due to income reduction from unemployment or business suspension/closure will proceed relatively late. Those whose income decreased due to COVID-19 and are struggling to make a living but have not received support from other programs are eligible. Online or on-site applications will be accepted in October to verify eligibility. Payments are scheduled from November to December.

It is estimated that a total of 599,000 people who were eligible for payment before Chuseok missed the application or other procedures and thus did not receive support. The largest group is 550,000 small business owners for the New Hope Fund, followed by 9,000 for the emergency employment stabilization subsidy, 19,000 for the job-seeking activity support fund, and 21,000 for the store closure re-challenge incentive. The government has resent notification texts and accepted applications during the Chuseok holiday, with payments planned immediately after application reception.

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