Gwangjin-gu Prepares 108.3 Billion KRW Supplementary Budget... Focus on COVID-19 Damage Support and Public Safety

Corona Coexistence National Support Fund 72.1 Billion KRW and Gwangjin Love Gift Certificates 15 Billion KRW Additional Issuance, Largest Ever Budget... Single-Person Household Jikyeojwo Homes Method Service, Strengthening Safety Measures Against Fine Dust and Daily Life Safety Enhancements

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gwangjin-gu (District Mayor Kim Seon-gap) submitted the second supplementary budget proposal for 2021, totaling a record-breaking 108.3 billion KRW, to the district council on the 19th to prevent the spread of COVID-19, stabilize residents' lives, and revitalize the local economy.

This supplementary budget maximized available resources by not only increasing revenue estimates but also restructuring expenditures to expand self-funded resources for COVID-19 response, actively securing all external funds including national and city subsidies to respond to the crisis situation.

In particular, besides support for damages caused by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the district discovered 24 new practical, life-oriented projects worth 1.9 billion KRW that residents can directly feel in their daily lives, such as smart fine dust monitors for daycare centers and unmanned refrigerated storage for traditional markets. Additionally, budgets for 20 essential projects for residents’ daily lives, including additional installation of illegal dumping CCTV and new signboards for free shuttle buses for the elderly, were increased.

The main expenditure projects in the supplementary budget proposal include ▲15 projects for COVID-19 damage support and local economic revitalization, totaling 79.2 billion KRW ▲13 projects for COVID-19 response and quarantine reinforcement, totaling 700 million KRW ▲22 projects for strengthening residents’ safety and improving convenience, totaling 2.2 billion KRW ▲41 projects in health and welfare, totaling 9.3 billion KRW ▲and other project and administrative costs totaling 18.8 billion KRW.

For COVID-19 damage support, 72.1 billion KRW was allocated for the ‘COVID-19 Coexistence National Support Fund,’ which provides 250,000 KRW per person to households with income below 80% of the standard (including special cases for single-person and dual-income households), and 1.56 billion KRW was allocated for the ‘Living Support Fund’ for confirmed COVID-19 patients and those in self-quarantine.

Projects to revitalize the local economy include ▲76 million KRW for the additional issuance of 15 billion KRW worth of ‘Gwangjin Love Gift Certificates’ ▲50 million KRW for the ‘payback’ program encouraging the use of Gwangjin Love Gift Certificates ▲20 million KRW for facility improvement costs to revitalize traditional markets and major commercial districts ▲and 4.07 billion KRW for various job creation projects and village enterprise development.

Additionally, to strengthen COVID-19 quarantine measures, budgets were allocated as follows: ▲100 million KRW for the ‘3密 (closed, crowded, close-contact) industry quarantine supplies support project’ ▲73 million KRW for distributing ‘child fever-safe sticker thermometers’ and strengthening quarantine in children’s playgrounds in apartment complexes ▲167 million KRW for supporting volunteers at vaccination centers and screening clinics and enhancing specialized disinfection at confirmed patients’ visited locations ▲and 350 million KRW for other personnel and facility expansion costs related to response.

Separately from COVID-19 infectious disease response, the district allocated about 2.4 billion KRW to strengthen residents’ safety. This includes 87 million KRW for a new project supporting installation and usage fees for security services such as entrance door CCTVs for single-person households called the ‘Protect My Home Security Service Support Project,’ and 230 million KRW for two projects aimed at enhancing safety against fine dust, reflecting the budget actively for residents’ safety and convenience improvements.

Furthermore, about 9.3 billion KRW was allocated for 41 health and welfare projects, including additional Gwangjin-gu health and welfare projects such as ‘installation of rapid chargers for electric mobility aids for the disabled’ and ‘support for out-of-pocket postpartum health care costs,’ ensuring thorough welfare projects that residents can feel directly.

The second supplementary budget proposal to overcome the COVID-19 crisis will be finalized through approval by the Gwangjin-gu Council in early September. Considering the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the district plans to promptly execute and implement the budget by project to ensure no time is lost in overcoming the crisis.

Kim Seon-gap, Mayor of Gwangjin-gu, said, “We are putting all our capabilities into overcoming the long tunnel-like crisis of COVID-19 and have prepared the largest supplementary budget ever for this purpose. I hope this budget proposal will serve as a practical measure to overcome the crisis and provide real help to our residents.”

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