Government to Postpone and Exempt Payment of 3 Major Social Insurance Fees Until June; Electricity Bill Reduction Planned (Comprehensive)

Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki Chairs the 30th Emergency Economic Central Countermeasures Headquarters Meeting

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, is delivering opening remarks at the 'Emergency Economic Central Countermeasures Headquarters Meeting' held on the 24th at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Sejong=Asia Economy reporters Kim Hyunjung and Jang Sehee] The government will extend the deferral and exemption measures for the payment of the three major social insurance premiums?employment, industrial accident, and national pension?until June to alleviate the management burden on small business owners and SMEs, and will also promote electricity bill reductions. Considering the difficulties in paying rent due to COVID-19, the tax credit support for "Good Landlords" will be maintained until the end of this year.

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, announced these measures during his opening remarks at the 30th Emergency Economic Central Countermeasures Headquarters meeting held at the Government Seoul Office on the morning of the 24th. Regarding the three major insurance premiums, Hong said, "We will extend the deferral of employment and industrial accident insurance premiums and the exemption of national pension premiums for three months until June, and also extend the three-month deferral of electricity and gas bills until June. For small business owners in specially affected industries, we will retroactively reduce 30% of the industrial accident insurance premiums for the first three months of this year, and actively pursue electricity bill reductions in consultation with the ruling party."

The tax credit support for Good Landlords will also continue until the end of the year. Hong stated, "Regarding rent, which is identified as the biggest burden for small business owners and self-employed individuals, the initial plan was to support a 70% tax credit on the reduced rent until June, but this will be extended for six months until December. However, those with comprehensive income exceeding 100 million won will receive a 50% tax credit."

Measures to extend loan and guarantee maturities and defer interest repayments in the financial sector will also be extended. He emphasized, "Considering management difficulties due to quarantine measures and the financial sector's capacity, we are closely consulting with the financial sector on additional extensions. We expect the financial sector to form a consensus and actively participate." The government plans to decide and announce the additional extension of maturity extensions and repayment deferrals next week, along with a 'soft landing plan' to prevent a sudden concentration of principal and interest repayment burdens when support ends.

On the same day, the government also announced plans to prioritize the application of employment insurance to 12 occupations among special-type workers (teukso hyeong geunro jongsasa), including insurance planners and private tutors, starting in July. This is part of the "Universal Employment Insurance" initiative, which aims to extend employment insurance coverage to all workers by 2025.

Hong explained, "We will prioritize these 12 occupations and set the insurance rate at 1.4%, which is lower than the 1.6% for regular workers. Considering the characteristics of special-type occupations, we will allow job seekers' benefits to be received even in cases of job loss due to income reduction." He added, "We will ensure thorough preparation for the July implementation, including the establishment of enforcement ordinances, and form a social dialogue body in the first half of the year to carefully prepare employment insurance application plans for the self-employed."

Meanwhile, the government also discussed youth employment measures and women's employment recovery measures on the same day and plans to finalize and announce detailed contents next week.

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