Seoul City Provides 'Emergency Disaster Relief Fund' to 10,000 Artists Facing Livelihood Crisis Due to COVID-19

100 Million KRW Distributed to 10,000 Artists Struggling Livelihood Due to COVID-19, 1 Million KRW Per Person

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 30th that it will provide an ‘Emergency Disaster Relief Fund for Artists’ of 1 million won per person to 10,000 artists struggling to make a living due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

The cultural and arts sector is one of the industries severely affected by COVID-19. Due to social distancing and other quarantine guidelines, cultural facilities were closed all at once, and performances, exhibitions, and festivals were consecutively canceled, putting the cultural and arts sector on the brink of collapse. According to a survey by the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, the damage to the cultural and arts sector last year is estimated at 1.5717 trillion won.

The repeated cancellations of performances and exhibitions over the past year directly threatened the livelihoods of artists. The Seoul Metropolitan Government is providing emergency disaster relief funds to help artists who have lost jobs and experienced a sharp decline in income overcome the current crisis and continue their creative activities.

The recipients of the Seoul Emergency Disaster Relief Fund for Artists are artists residing in Seoul who hold an ‘Art Activity Certificate’ and whose household income is at or below 120% of the median income. Excluded from support are basic livelihood security recipients, Seoul-type basic livelihood security recipients, and beneficiaries of the 2020 Arts Welfare Foundation’s Creative Preparation Fund. Upon submission of the required documents, the registration of artists and verification of income data will be conducted, and the support fund will be provided in May.

Applications for the support fund will be accepted for about two weeks from the 31st to the 13th of next month at the district office corresponding to the artist’s resident registration address. Both online and on-site applications will be accepted. For more details, please refer to the Seoul Metropolitan Government or district office websites.

Yoo Yeon-sik, Head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Culture Headquarters, said, “Due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the cultural and arts sector is on the verge of collapse. Especially with creative activities halted, many artists are facing difficulties in making a living, but it has often been difficult to prove damages, resulting in exclusion from various support programs. We hope that through this Seoul Emergency Disaster Relief Fund for Artists, low-income artists who meet the minimum conditions can continue their artistic activities stably.”

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