Special Workers and Freelancers Including Insurance Planners Can Now Apply for 500,000 Won... Who Is Eligible?

Application for the 3rd Emergency Employment Stability Support Fund for Special Workers and Freelancers Opens Today
For Existing Recipients...If No Separate Application, Payment Will Be Made to Existing Account
Payments Start from the 11th...Excludes Employment Insurance Subscribers, Teachers, Soldiers, etc.

On the 24th, when the second round of emergency employment stabilization support payments for special employment workers and freelancers began, clients who visited the Employment Welfare Plus Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, were leaving the center after completing their consultations. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Starting today (the 6th), applications for the '3rd Emergency Employment Stability Support Fund' for special-type workers (STWs) such as insurance planners and door-to-door salespeople, as well as freelancers, are now available. Those who received the 1st and 2nd rounds of support can receive the 3rd support fund of 500,000 KRW directly into their accounts as early as the 11th without a separate review.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced that applications for the 3rd Emergency Employment Stability Support Fund will be accepted from 9 a.m. today. A payment of 500,000 KRW will be made to STWs and freelancers who received the 1st and 2nd support funds. Applications can be submitted online through the website (covid19.ei.go.kr) until 6 p.m. on the 11th. Applicants need to access the website, verify their identity, confirm the account information for receiving the support fund, and then apply.

If online application is difficult, applicants can visit employment centers on the 8th and 11th with their ID and a copy of their bankbook to apply in person. A ministry official urged, "To prevent the spread of COVID-19, please use online applications as much as possible except in unavoidable cases." If applicants do not have a mobile phone registered in their name or cannot verify their identity on the website due to errors in their resident registration number, they can only apply by visiting the employment center.

Support funds can be received even without separate online or offline applications. If no application is made during the application period, it will be considered as applied, and the funds will be paid to the account that previously received the emergency employment stability support fund.

However, if applicants need to check or change their account information for payment, if the payment account is under seizure, if the funds were previously paid to an account under another person's name, or if there is any history of changing account information such as account number or account holder during the 1st or 2nd emergency employment stability support fund receipt, they must verify and apply with the correct account information.

Payments will begin on the 11th. Priority will be given to those who apply through the website on the 6th and 7th. The ministry plans to complete payments to all eligible recipients by the 15th at the latest. A ministry official stated, "Please be aware that payment delays may occur for a considerable time if transfer errors happen due to incorrect account numbers or mismatched account holders."

Eligible recipients include those who received the 1st emergency employment stability support fund as 'STW or freelancer' types or those who newly received the 2nd emergency employment stability support fund. However, only those who were not enrolled in employment insurance as of December 24 of last year, when the year-end and New Year’s special quarantine measures were implemented, are eligible. Public officials, teachers, and military personnel are excluded from support.

STWs and freelancers who have never received the emergency employment stability support fund before must apply newly for the 3rd support fund. Detailed information on this will be announced on the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s website on the 15th.

Minister Lee Jae-gap of the Ministry of Employment and Labor said, "Due to the recent third wave of COVID-19, difficulties for STWs and freelancers are increasing," and added, "We hope that the 3rd Emergency Employment Stability Support Fund being implemented this time will help stabilize their livelihoods even a little."

For more details about the 3rd Emergency Employment Stability Support Fund, please contact the dedicated call center (☎1899-9595) or visit the application website.

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