Jeonnam Governor Kim Young-rok Proposes Expansion of Government's 4th Disaster Relief Fund Recipients

[Muan=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Kim Young-rok, Governor of Jeonnam Province, has requested the government to expand the scope of the 4th disaster relief fund.

According to Jeonnam Province on the 1st, Governor Kim requested at the 'Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters for COVID-19' meeting on the 28th of last month, "Please expand the recipients of the government's 4th disaster relief fund not only to small business owners but also to vulnerable groups such as farmers struggling with livelihood difficulties and traditional market street vendors."

The expanded targets proposed by Governor Kim on that day included flower farmers severely affected by the cancellation of various events, eco-friendly agricultural product producers who suffered significant damage due to school meal suspensions, rice farmers affected by reduced harvests, artists whose sales plummeted due to restrictions on performances, events, and travel, and chartered bus drivers.

He also requested expansion to traditional market street vendors and unregistered merchants who pay usage fees or membership fees to city/county and merchant associations and can be identified, unregistered rural guesthouse operators, and religious facilities that had to operate abnormally due to prolonged non-face-to-face worship and personnel restrictions.

The province provided 9.9 billion KRW of provincial funds to 11 vulnerable industries (19,787 locations), including traditional market street vendors and unregistered merchants, who were excluded from government support or received insufficient support and faced livelihood threats, in two rounds last month.

The 11 vulnerable industries include traditional market street vendors and unregistered merchants, unregistered rural guesthouse operators, artists, private museums and art galleries, chartered bus drivers, corporate taxi drivers, travel agencies, outdoor private futsal fields, entertainment facilities, and others.

However, due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, many vulnerable sectors remain in blind spots facing business closure risks or livelihood difficulties, and the relative deprivation of vulnerable industry operators or workers excluded from support is severe, making the expansion of disaster relief fund recipients urgent.

Governor Kim ordered, "Provincial department heads need to actively visit the National Assembly and central government ministries to ensure that the requests for expanding the recipients of the government's 4th disaster relief fund are reflected."

The province plans to steadily promote COVID-19 prevention and vaccination to restore ordinary daily life and continuously propose to the government the difficulties faced by vulnerable groups suffering from the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

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