[2020 National Audit] COVID-19 Disaster Relief Fund, Up to 1.9 Times Difference Per Person by Region

Sum of Central Government Grants and Metropolitan Autonomous Entity's Own Grants
Highest is Daegu, designated as a Special Disaster Area, with 490,000 KRW; Sejong has 260,000 KRW

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] It has been found that the amount of disaster relief funds provided to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic varied by region, with differences of up to 1.9 times per person.

On the 13th, Park Hong-geun, a member of the Planning and Finance Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, confirmed through data from 17 metropolitan local governments that the average emergency disaster relief fund per person was 339,336 KRW, with a difference of up to about 1.9 times per person depending on the local government. This value was calculated by adding the central government's first disaster relief fund and the emergency disaster relief funds executed by metropolitan local governments, then dividing by the 2020 population (51,780,579) based on Statistics Korea's future population projections.

The region with the highest amount paid per person was Daegu, calculated at 488,134 KRW. The lowest was Sejong, recorded at 264,333 KRW. Depending on the place of residence, the disaster relief fund per person differed by as much as 1.85 times.

Jeju (429,082 KRW) was another local government that paid over 400,000 KRW along with Daegu. Seven local governments, including Sejong, Chungbuk (274,682 KRW), Ulsan (276,661 KRW), and Busan (280,796 KRW), paid less than 300,000 KRW.

This disparity occurred because, in the second supplementary budget, the central government provided disaster relief funds to all citizens, but the additional disaster relief funds paid separately by local governments varied. Daegu, which suffered the greatest damage early in the pandemic, paid 500,000 to 900,000 KRW per household member to all residents registered in Daegu during the first half of the year. In the second half, it also paid 100,000 KRW per person under the name of 'Daegu Hope Support Fund.'

The Gyeonggi region also paid 100,000 KRW per person as 'Gyeonggi-do Disaster Basic Income' according to Governor Lee Jae-myung's will. On the other hand, four regions?Busan, Ulsan, Chungcheong, and Sejong?did not provide any additional support funds beyond the central government's disaster relief funds. Rather than the controversy over universal versus selective distribution during the second disaster relief fund allocation, the differences arose due to political decisions such as the financial situation of local governments and the will of local government heads.

Park argued that it is necessary to seek joint responses through cooperation between the central and local governments regarding the review of local governments' financial conditions (financial independence, net surplus) and issues of resource sharing (central disaster relief fund matching ratio, subsidy levels). He stated, "To prevent dissatisfaction and inefficiency like those experienced during the mask supply competition in the first half of the year, the principles, decision-making procedures, and recipients of disaster relief funds for each local government should be jointly established by the central government and local governments."

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