Emergency Support for Rental Housing: 50% Rent Reduction for 2 Years for Wildfire Victims

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Housing Support Measures for Disaster Victims

On the morning of the 7th, the fourth day since the large wildfire occurred on the East Coast, affected residents in Chogudong, Donghae-si, Gangwon Province, are inspecting their completely burned houses.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 7th that it has prepared housing support measures for disaster victims to prevent the spread of wildfires in Gangwon and Gyeongbuk and to assist affected areas.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, in collaboration with the Korea Land and Housing Corporation, has been operating an emergency housing support task force since March 6, and from March 7, it established housing support response teams at Donghae City Hall and Uljin County Office to identify the housing needs of disaster victims and provide customized support based on demand (number of household members, residential area, etc.).

To ensure that disaster victims do not remain in temporary shelters for extended periods, if necessary, the ministry plans to coordinate with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and local governments to support training facilities operated by agencies under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport as temporary housing facilities.

Additionally, public rental housing vacancies and jeonse rental housing within the special disaster areas will be immediately provided as emergency support housing under the condition of a 50% rent reduction for the first two years for disaster victims.

In cases where houses are destroyed or partially damaged, separate from the disaster relief funds from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, disaster housing restoration loans will be provided through the Housing and Urban Fund. The loan limit is up to 88.4 million KRW for destroyed houses and up to 44.2 million KRW for partially damaged houses. The interest rate is 1.5% per annum.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has strengthened crisis management and response readiness for major facilities such as roads, railways, and aviation.

The ministry has established a cooperative system with subordinate agencies including regional land management offices, the Korea Expressway Corporation, Korea Railroad Corporation, Korea National Railway, and Korea Airports Corporation to prepare for unexpected situations that may occur at key infrastructure and construction sites in the affected areas.

Roads and railways that were partially closed due to the wildfires are all operating normally as of March 7. Surveillance personnel and water spraying vehicles have been deployed in increased numbers to major roads, railways, and construction sites, and ground operations and air traffic control at Uljin Airport are being supported to ensure no disruption to wildfire firefighting helicopter operations.

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Noh Hyung-wook stated, "We will actively support all available resources to ensure the wildfires are completely extinguished and make every effort to prepare housing support and recovery measures so that affected residents can return to their daily lives as soon as possible."

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