Agreement Reached on 200 Billion KRW Disaster Relief Fund from 25 Seoul Districts and 300 Billion KRW from Seoul City

Seoul District Mayors' Council Chair Lee Dong-jin (Dobong-gu Mayor) and Acting Mayor Seo Jeong-hyeop Hold Press Conference at Seoul Briefing Room on the 22nd at 11 AM, Announce Agreement Among 25 District Mayors; Propose First Autonomous District-City Cooperative Disaster Relief Fund to Seoul, Expecting to Complement Government Disaster Relief; Emphasize Significance of Proposal from Frontline Autonomous Districts, Highlight Solidarity Among 25 Districts, Cooperation Between Districts and Seoul City, and Joint Effort of Public and Government as Core of This Disaster Relief Fund

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Lee Dong-jin, Chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Council of District Mayors (Mayor of Dobong-gu), announced on the morning of the 22nd at 11 a.m. at the Seoul City Hall press briefing, together with Seo Jeong-hyeop, Acting Mayor of Seoul, about the payment and distribution method of the ‘City-District Cooperative Disaster Relief Fund.’

The ‘City-District Cooperative Disaster Relief Fund’ was prepared by the 25 autonomous districts collectively contributing 200 billion KRW, with Seoul City providing a matching support of 300 billion KRW.

Chairman Lee Dong-jin emphasized several times that this support fund not only gained the consent of all 25 districts in Seoul but was also first proposed at the district level, which is the frontline of public livelihood, making its significance profound.

Of course, it was not an easy task to gain agreement from districts with different positions, such as population composition and financial independence.

There were differing views among districts regarding the payment targets and amounts.

To resolve this, the Council of District Mayors and Seoul City officials coordinated over 10 times on the payment timing, targets, and amounts, resulting in a consensus among the mayors at the 157th regular meeting on February 25th to approve the disaster relief fund payment on a magnanimous basis.

This was because the district mayors, who directly witnessed the lives of citizens in crisis due to the prolonged social distancing lasting over a year, agreed on the urgent need for support to restore the livelihood economy.

In this process, Seoul City also supported the district mayors by matching a large fund of 300 billion KRW. This is a valuable result created by the united efforts of the Council of District Mayors and the 25 district mayors.

At the briefing, Chairman Lee Dong-jin mentioned, “Considering that the government is preparing the 4th disaster relief fund to support small business owners and self-employed individuals, and other local governments are also promoting their own disaster relief funds, there was mutual consensus that Seoul City should also provide disaster relief funds together with the districts.”

At the press briefing, Acting Mayor Seo Jeong-hyeop first explained the direction and detailed payment methods of the disaster relief fund, followed by Chairman Lee Dong-jin presenting the reasons and significance of preparing the disaster relief fund as a livelihood economic measure.

According to the announcement, the final ‘City-District Cooperative Disaster Relief Fund’ is designed to complement the 4th government disaster relief fund.

It aims to provide selective and direct support to vulnerable groups severely affected by COVID-19 over the long term. The broad framework of the ‘City-District Cooperative Disaster Relief Fund’ is expected to consist of 12 projects across three major areas: ▲small business owners ▲vulnerable groups ▲industries with actual damage.

First, for small business owners who suffered the most severe damage from COVID-19, separate from the government’s 4th disaster relief fund, ‘Seoul Economic Vitality Fund’ will be provided to businesses under gathering bans and restrictions, and damage support funds will be paid to small business owners in these sectors who closed down since March last year.

Additionally, vulnerable groups such as low-income households and unemployed youth will be supported. Additional living expenses will be provided to basic livelihood security recipients, near-poverty groups, and legally defined single-parent families, and employment support funds will be given to unemployed youth.

Along with this, additional support will be provided to industries with actual damage. Damage support funds will be paid to transportation workers facing management deterioration crises, and the cultural and arts sectors, which have a high proportion of freelancers, contract, and part-time workers, will be supported. Support measures for the tourism and MICE industries, as well as daycare centers, local children’s centers, and elderly care facilities, are also included.

In the absence of a mayor, the Seoul Metropolitan Council of District Mayors is strengthening its role by collecting opinions from the 25 districts through monthly regular meetings and conveying those opinions to Seoul City.

In this announcement, Chairman Lee Dong-jin (Mayor of Dobong-gu) expressed his gratitude, saying, “I sincerely thank the twenty-five district mayors who actively participated without exception in the great cause of overcoming the livelihood crisis despite difficult financial conditions.”

He then requested Seoul citizens to make a little more effort to comply well with quarantine rules and appealed to landlords to participate in the ‘Good Landlord Policy’ for rent reduction from the perspective of coexistence and cooperation.

Furthermore, he urged everyone to extend solidarity and cooperation to each other so that all can safely cross the river of crisis ahead of us.

This disaster relief fund especially shone with the spirit of solidarity and cooperation. The essence of this disaster relief fund is that the 25 districts show ‘solidarity,’ the districts and Seoul City show ‘cooperation,’ and the public and government overcome it ‘together.’

In a Q&A session with reporters, Chairman Lee Dong-jin conveyed his remaining commitment to strive for prompt budget execution so that the on-site livelihood measures of the 25 districts can take effect as soon as possible.

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