Government: "No Changes to Disaster Relief Fund Policy"... Rejects 90% Increase Proposal

Ando Geol, Deputy Minister of Finance, Visits On-site for Win-Win National Support Fund
"No Changes from Government Policy Announced on August 30"

Deputy Prime Minister Hong Also Reconfirms "88% Including Objections"

Ando-geol, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (far right), visited the Sejong City Hall National Support Fund Call Center and the Sodam-dong Community Service Center in Sejong City on the 13th. He is seen conversing with staff regarding the status of support fund payments. (Photo by Ministry of Economy and Finance)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government has firmly stated that there will be "no changes whatsoever" to the principle of providing disaster relief funds of 250,000 KRW per person to approximately 88% of the population with the lowest income.

On the 13th at 3:30 PM, Ando Geol, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, visited the National Support Fund Call Center at Sejong City Hall and the Sodam-dong Administrative Welfare Center to check the status of the disaster relief fund distribution and made this announcement.

Vice Minister An said, "There will be no changes whatsoever to the government policy already announced regarding the criteria for selecting recipients of the National Support Fund."

Earlier, on the 30th of last month, the government announced that it would support a total of 20.18 million households, about 87% of all households, and including appeals, support would be extended to about 88%. It was stated that based on the June health insurance premium, the support would be reduced by 170,000 KRW for single-person households, 200,000 KRW for two-person households, 250,000 KRW for three-person households, and 310,000 KRW for four-person households.

However, since 107,000 appeals had been submitted to the National Sinmungo operated by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission by the previous day, it was explained that the number of recipients could increase beyond the "87% excluding appeals" announced on the 30th of last month.

Vice Minister An said, "In the appeal process, if there is reasonable evidence, we plan to accept it as much as possible and interpret and review it in a way favorable to the people, actively providing relief," adding, "As a result, it is expected that the number of recipients may increase compared to the government's initial estimate (87% excluding appeals)."

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, in the case of the nationwide emergency disaster relief fund distributed last year, out of 396,000 appeals, 340,000 were accepted. Since the acceptance rate reached 85.9%, it means that the number of recipients could increase somewhat beyond the initially mentioned "87%."

According to him, during the week from the 6th to the 12th, 74 trillion KRW was distributed to 29.5 million people. The execution rate was 67.2%, and it is proceeding smoothly toward the 90% target by the end of this month.

The government emphasized that even including the appeals, the existing principle of "88% distribution" will not be overturned. This comes amid criticism of "rubber-band support funds" after the Democratic Party of Korea proposed a "90% distribution theory" following a surge in appeals.

Regarding the distribution of support funds, Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, also told reporters on the same day, "Including those whose appeals are accepted, the recipients will be 88% of the population," and added, "The forecast that the number of recipients will increase to 90% due to appeals is not true."

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