The 3rd Disaster Relief Fund Scale '5 Trillion+α'... 1.5 Million Won Each for Travel Industry Workers (Comprehensive)

Including Those Who Ended Party-Government Leave Support
Final Plan to Be Announced on the 29th

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] The Democratic Party of Korea and the government have decided to include an extension of the unpaid leave support payment period for vulnerable industries by three months in the third round of COVID-19 disaster relief funds. Since this round of disaster relief funds is focused not only on small business owners but also on supporting vulnerable groups, industries facing employment crises will also be included as beneficiaries. Workers in the travel industry, whose six-month unpaid leave support period has ended, will receive 1.5 million KRW per person. As the target group gradually expands, the scale of support is expected to grow from the initial "3 trillion + α" to "5 trillion + α."

According to the ruling party and government on the 28th, the government has finalized a policy to provide 1.5 million KRW per person to 3,000 workers who have used all six months of unpaid leave. The payment will be made at 500,000 KRW per month for three months. For unpaid leave, once support has been received for 180 days, it cannot be received again. This decision is interpreted as considering the travel industry's situation, where a large-scale layoff is inevitable if support for unpaid leave is cut off.

A government official stated, "This measure is due to about 3,000 people no longer being able to receive unpaid leave support from early next year," adding, "A total of 1.5 million KRW will be paid over three months at 500,000 KRW per person per month." The budget is expected to require 4.5 billion KRW. The ruling party and government are known to have extended the period by about three months, considering that the economy is expected to recover after the first quarter of next year due to the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

The funds will be sourced through the Employment Insurance Fund. However, due to the impact of COVID-19 and other factors, the fund is already expected to run a deficit of 3 trillion KRW this year alone, raising concerns about fiscal soundness. Previously, the National Assembly Budget Office forecasted that the Employment Insurance Fund would record deficits of 3.26 trillion KRW this year and 3.32 trillion KRW next year. The total amount of employment retention support payments made to companies maintaining employment during COVID-19 is expected to reach 900 billion KRW.

The ruling party and government will also provide a one-time emergency employment stabilization payment of up to 1 million KRW to vulnerable employment groups such as special-type workers (특고) including door-to-door salespeople and substitute drivers, as well as freelancers. This applies to those receiving this support for the first time; if they already received the second round of disaster relief funds in September, they will receive only half, 500,000 KRW.

Accordingly, the scale of the third round of disaster relief funds promoted by the ruling party and government is expected to exceed 5 trillion KRW. A senior government official said, "The third round of disaster relief funds is expected to exceed at least 5 trillion KRW," adding, "There are many places to support, including small business owners, vulnerable employment groups, and medical institutions providing treatment beds, so the scale could become even larger."

On the 27th, the ruling party and government announced guidelines for the third round of disaster relief funds, including payments of up to 3 million KRW to small business owners and expanding tax credits. The government plans to announce specific support amounts and other details on the 29th.

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