Expansion of National Employment Support Program Eligibility to Monthly Income up to 2.92 Million Won

Support of 3 Million KRW Per Person... Relaxation to Below 60% of Median Income
Amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Employment Promotion Act Approved at the Cabinet Meeting

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government is significantly easing the eligibility criteria for the National Employment Support System, which provides job-seeking promotion allowances of up to 3 million KRW per person to low-income job seekers including youth, by raising the monthly income threshold for a four-person household from approximately 2.43 million KRW to 2.92 million KRW. This is a concrete support measure following the decision made in the second half of June’s economic policy direction to strengthen job-seeking support policies for vulnerable employment groups such as youth, middle-aged individuals, and women with career interruptions.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 7th that the amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Job Seekers’ Employment Promotion and Livelihood Stabilization Support, which relaxes the eligibility requirements for the National Employment Support System, was approved at the Cabinet meeting. According to the amendment, the eligibility criteria will be relaxed from “below 50% of median income and assets under 300 million KRW” to “below 60% of median income and assets under 400 million KRW.” For a four-person household, the monthly median income threshold expands from 2,438,000 KRW to 2,925,000 KRW, and for a single-person household, from 914,000 KRW to 1,096,000 KRW, thereby broadening the support target. The amendment will take effect from the 8th after presidential approval.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, from early January to the 1st of this month, 405,000 people applied for the system, and 324,000 were recognized as eligible. Considering that the budget for this year, including supplementary budgets, plans to support 640,000 people, about half of the target has participated by the third quarter.

The National Employment Support System is divided into “Type 1,” which provides a job-seeking promotion allowance of 500,000 KRW per month for up to six months along with employment support services, and “Type 2,” which provides only employment support services. Participants in Type 2 receive up to 1,954,000 KRW per person as employment activity expenses.

An official from the Ministry of Employment and Labor explained, “At the time of the announcement of the second half economic policy direction, there was a consensus within the government that support should be focused now as signs of employment recovery were visible, and based on this, the policy is being implemented as planned.”

Additionally, soldiers who are scheduled to be discharged within the next two months and are participating in the National Employment Support System with the capacity to submit employment activity plans have also been included as eligible. It was judged that soldiers are not immediate job seekers and thus face a blind spot where they do not receive timely support. However, the support condition is limited to soldiers who are “within two months before discharge,” combining the government’s one-month eligibility assessment period and one-month employment activity plan submission period.

Furthermore, the scope of exceptions allowing continued payment of allowances has been expanded to include those who could not properly carry out their employment activity plans due to illness or injury. Previously, exceptions were only granted to those who could not comply with their employment activity plans due to natural disasters or difficulties in relocating their residence.

Kim Seong-ho, Director of Employment Service Policy at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, said, “As we have improved the system to broadly support employment by reflecting voices from the field amid the employment crisis, we plan to actively guide low-income job seekers and others to participate. During the second half of the year, we will analyze the operational results so far to identify areas for system improvement and continue efforts to ensure the system operates effectively on the ground.”

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