Pohang City Surpasses 20,000 Applications for 'Earthquake Damage Support Fund' in 3 Months... 87% Are Housing Damages

Full-scale On-site Investigation of Damaged Property by Loss Adjusters Affiliated with the Prime Minister's Office

Scene of the application reception site for earthquake damage support funds in Pohang City.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Jae-ho] Pohang City announced on the 5th that the number of applications for victim recognition and support funds under the Special Act for the Investigation of the Pohang Earthquake and Damage Relief, which began on September 21 last year, has exceeded 20,000 as of the end of last year.

The total number of applications is 20,385. By category, there are 472 cases of human damage, 17,910 cases of housing damage, 1,097 cases of small business owners, 66 cases of small and medium-sized enterprises, 18 cases of agricultural and livestock facilities, 99 cases of religious facilities, and 723 cases of other items such as household goods. About 87% of the total damage applications are housing damage.

Although there were concerns that many applicants would flood in at once during the initial reception, the number of applications has been processed smoothly at about 300 cases per day without major congestion, thanks to outreach education tours in towns and townships and promotion through various media.

Accordingly, damage assessors affiliated with the Office for Government Policy Coordination are actively conducting document reviews and on-site visits for damaged properties, and some households requiring document supplementation among the applicants are being requested to provide additional documents.

A Pohang City official emphasized, "Applications for earthquake damage are possible not only for housing damage but also for facilities such as religious facilities and private childcare facilities," and added, "We ask earthquake-affected citizens to apply for damage support funds without omission within the application deadline (by the end of August)."

Meanwhile, the Pohang Earthquake Damage Relief Deliberation Committee under the Prime Minister's Office plans to decide on victim recognition and support funds based on fact-finding investigations conducted on applicants for earthquake damage support funds by commissioned damage assessment companies.

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