Starting Today, Apply Online for 3 Million Won Job-Seeking Allowance... "Payments May Begin as Early as January"

Announcement of the Implementation Plan for the "National Employment Support System"
"Establishing as a Key Measure for K-Job Market Protection"
171 Employment Centers Nationwide Accepting Applications

Lee Jae-gap, Minister of Employment and Labor / Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Starting today (28th), pre-registration begins for the payment of job-seeking allowances of 3 million KRW to low-income job seekers, youth, and long-term unemployed individuals. The government plans to start paying the job-seeking allowance as early as January next year, considering the COVID-19 situation.

Lee Jae-gap, Minister of Employment and Labor, held a briefing this morning at the Government Complex Sejong to introduce the implementation plan and preparation status of the National Employment Support System. Minister Lee stated, "Since the National Employment Support System is being implemented during the severe COVID-19 period, we will ensure that the public can receive support as soon as possible." He added, "We will expedite administrative procedures such as income and asset investigations so that job-seeking promotion allowances can be paid as early as January. To this end, we are starting online pre-registration today."

The National Employment Support System, newly established next year, is a 'Korean-style unemployment assistance' program that provides employment support services and job-seeking allowances up to 3 million KRW (50,000 KRW per month for 6 months) to low-income job seekers, youth, and women with career interruptions.

The job-seeking allowance will be paid to 400,000 job seekers who meet the criteria of having an income below 50% of the median income, assets below 300 million KRW, and at least 100 days of work experience within the last two years. The income threshold for below 50% of the median income corresponds to approximately 910,000 KRW for a single-person household and 2,440,000 KRW for a four-person household. Even those without work experience in the last two years will be selected and supported if they meet the income and asset criteria, with about 150,000 people expected to be supported. The government plans to gradually expand the eligibility for the job-seeking allowance by relaxing income criteria in the future.

In addition to the job-seeking allowance, recipients will receive various employment support services such as one-on-one in-depth counseling, personalized employment activity planning, vocational training, and work experience programs.

From today, online pre-registration is available on the National Employment Support System website (www.work.go.kr/kua). Applicants can check if they are eligible for the job-seeking allowance and pre-enter the necessary information for participation to make a reservation. Offline applications will also be available starting next year. In addition to the current 101 employment centers, 30 medium-sized centers and 40 branch offices will be newly established, making a total of 171 locations where applications can be submitted. The plan is to ensure that anyone nationwide can visit and apply within one hour.

Minister Lee emphasized, "With the implementation of the National Employment Support System from January 1 next year, South Korea will have a multi-layered employment safety net based on employment insurance and unemployment assistance, like most OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries." He added, "We will do our best to establish the National Employment Support System as a core means of 'K-Job Shield' to overcome the employment crisis."

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