[Exclusive] 3rd Disaster Relief Fund: Travel Industry Workers to Receive 1.5 Million Won Per Person

About 3,000 Unpaid Leave Workers to Receive 1.5 Million Won Each
Funding to Be Secured Through Employment Insurance Fund

Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, attended the policy coordination meeting held at the National Assembly on the 10th and was looking at the speech materials of Policy Committee Chair Han Jeong-ae during the meeting. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] The government has decided to extend the payment period for unpaid leave support funds by an additional three months to assist companies struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, travel industry workers whose six-month unpaid leave support has ended or is about to end will receive support funds of 1.5 million KRW per person.

On the 28th, according to the Democratic Party of Korea and the government, the ruling party and government agreed to provide 1.5 million KRW per person to 3,000 workers who have used all six months of unpaid leave. This decision is interpreted as a measure considering the risk of large-scale layoffs in the travel industry if support for unpaid leave is discontinued.

A key official from the ruling party and government stated, "This is a measure in response to about 3,000 people taking unpaid leave starting early next year," adding, "Support funds of 500,000 KRW per month will be paid for three months, totaling 1.5 million KRW per person." The budget is expected to require 4.5 billion KRW. The ruling party and government reportedly extended the period by about three months, anticipating economic recovery in the first quarter of next year due to COVID-19 vaccine distribution.

Most travel industry workers will not be able to receive the government's employment retention support funds early next year as the COVID-19 situation continues. For unpaid leave, support was only available for 180 days, after which it could no longer be received.

The government's paid leave employment retention support fund operates by covering up to 90% of the leave allowance, which corresponds to 70% of the basic salary. The payment period is renewed with the new year, allowing subsidies to be received next year as well.

The funds are planned to be sourced from the employment insurance fund. However, due to the impact of COVID-19 and other factors, the fund is expected to face a deficit of 3 trillion KRW this year alone, raising concerns about fiscal soundness in some quarters.

Earlier, the National Assembly Budget Office forecasted that the employment insurance fund would record a deficit of 3.26 trillion KRW this year and 3.32 trillion KRW next year.

Meanwhile, the total amount of employment retention support funds paid to companies that maintained employment during COVID-19 is reported to reach 900 billion KRW.

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