‘Safety’ and ‘Happiness’ ... Gyeongnam Province Announces Welfare and Policy Changes Starting New Year

Expansion of Various Welfare Services: 88 Cases Across 7 Sectors

Gyeongnam Provincial Government Office.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Sang-hyun] Gyeongnam Province announced on the 31st a summary of 88 items across 7 fields of newly implemented or changed systems starting from 2022.

First, welfare and education support will be significantly expanded. For all children born after January 2022, a 'First Meeting Voucher' of 2 million KRW will be provided as a lump sum.

Pregnancy and childbirth medical expenses through the National Happiness Card will also be increased by 400,000 KRW, and the usage period extended to 2 years. The child allowance eligibility will be expanded from under 7 years old to under 8 years old.

The interest support for student loans will be extended from university students to graduate students. The application and usage periods for Gyeongnam Province's education support projects will also be extended by 5 months and 2 months respectively.

Welfare benefits by life cycle can also be guided through the 'Online Welfare' service or the 'Customized Benefits (Welfare Membership)' service applied for at Eup, Myeon, and Dong administrative welfare centers.

In the job and business support sector, a new app linked with the 'Gyeongnam Startup Portal' will be operated to provide one-stop startup support, and unmanned job information kiosks will be installed in city and county job centers to respond to the non-face-to-face recruitment environment.

For small business owners' management stabilization and regional economic revitalization, the 'Gyeongnam Love Gift Certificate' will switch from the existing pre-discount purchase method to a cashback system where the certificate is purchased at face value and rewards are received in real time after use.

In the residents' living and tax sectors, to support fund management for small and medium enterprises struggling due to COVID-19, the retroactive deduction period for losses incurred in 2021 will be extended to 2 years. The scope of inheritance acquisition tax-exempt vehicles will also be expanded to include cases where vehicles were scrapped without registration before inheritance due to exceeding the vehicle age limit.

In safety and transportation, the enforcement of the Serious Accident Punishment Act strengthens safety and health obligations for business owners and others. The eligibility for housing benefits will be expanded from households with income below 45% of the median income to those below 46%.

Additionally, with the establishment of the Bus Information System (BIS) between Changwon and Haman, benefits of the metropolitan transfer discount system along with bus arrival information will be provided.

In agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and livestock sectors, a new 'Gyeongsangnam-do Farmer and Fisherman Allowance' will be supported to enhance the public functions of farmers and fishermen, and the fisheries direct payment for disadvantaged areas for fishery managers will be increased.

Along with this, support for veterinary expenses for companion animals among socially vulnerable groups will be expanded from basic livelihood security recipients and lower-income groups to single-parent families and owners of assistance dogs for the disabled.

In the environment and energy sector, restrictions on the operation of grade 5 emission vehicles will be fully implemented during fine dust emergency reduction measures (restricted areas: Changwon, Jinju, Gimhae, Yangsan), and separate collection of transparent PET bottles for resource recycling will be expanded and implemented from multi-family housing to single-family homes.

A Gyeongnam Province official said, "We will post related materials on the official provincial website so that residents can feel the changes in Gyeongnam and actively utilize them," adding, "We will develop new policies that meet the expectations of policy customers, the residents."

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