Government Provides Free 'Temporary Modular Housing' to Wildfire Victims on East Coast... Relief on Insurance Premiums and Overdue Charges

범정부 지원 for Uljin, Samcheok, Gangneung, and Donghae Affected by Large-Scale Wildfires
Emergency Relief for Disaster Victims, Housing Support, Livelihood Stabilization, Agricultural and Forestry Resumption Support, Economic Activity Support for Small Businesses, Tax and Financial Assistance

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The government has established and is actively implementing support measures including emergency relief and housing support for disaster victims, livelihood stabilization support, agricultural and forestry farmers’ resumption of farming support, economic activity support for small business owners, and tax and financial support to ensure the swift recovery of residents affected by the recent wildfires in Gyeongbuk and Gangwon, which were declared special disaster zones.

On the 10th, the government announced that through a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, it has prepared the 'East Coast Wildfire Damage Recovery Support Plan' integrating 16 ministries including the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. This is a follow-up measure after President Moon Jae-in declared the special disaster zones to ensure rapid recovery and substantial damage support at the whole-government level.

First, to promptly support the housing stability of disaster victims, the government will swiftly proceed with the installation of temporary prefabricated houses where victims can reside free of charge. Temporary prefabricated houses will be provided (free residence for one year, extendable) to victims who suffered total or partial destruction of their homes due to the wildfire, and before moving into these temporary houses, support will be provided through public and private lodging facilities and LH public rental housing to ensure no gaps in housing support policies.

Additionally, to minimize the inconvenience of disaster victims, emergency relief kits, food, daily necessities, and meal trucks will be urgently supplied, and professional psychological counselors will be deployed to support the psychological recovery of victims. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will provide public rental housing to victims with a 50% rent reduction for two years (emergency support housing) and plans to offer disaster housing repair loans (up to 88.4 million KRW) to victims wishing to restore their own homes.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare operates emergency welfare counseling centers (at 18 eup/myeon/dong administrative welfare centers), coordinates with private organizations and the Community Chest of Korea to receive and distribute donated goods, and the Regional Trauma Centers operate a visiting ‘Mind Relief Bus’ while collaborating with local government mental health welfare centers to provide psychological counseling to victims. Exceptions will be made for duplicate prescriptions when re-prescribing lost medications, and insurance coverage will apply for re-fabrication of dentures lost or damaged by fire. The Ministry of Science and ICT supports smooth communication services for victims by operating mobile base stations and installing additional Wi-Fi in evacuation shelters and nearby areas. The Korea Post will provide free delivery for about six months for relief-related mail sent by or to relief agencies such as the Korean Red Cross and the National Disaster Relief Association for victims in the special disaster zones.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will distribute portable butane stoves and butane cans to evacuation shelters, provide free emergency power installations such as outlets and lighting, and support restoration of energy facilities for affected households, including insulation, window, and boiler replacement for disaster victim households receiving basic livelihood security or belonging to the lower-income bracket. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs will provide free government rice (10 kg per person per month) to stabilize the livelihoods of victims and supply it promptly upon application.

Support for livelihood stabilization including health insurance premium reductions for disaster victims... Communication service fee reductions

The government will also strengthen livelihood safety support for disaster victims. The Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to reduce health insurance premiums for victims (up to 50% for three months, six months if both personal and property damage occur), exempt collection of overdue payments (up to six months), exempt national pension contributions (up to one year, extendable if reasons persist), and exempt collection of overdue payments (six months). It will also support exemption or reduction of out-of-pocket expenses for hospital and pharmacy use for those who lost housing (three months). The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will promote reductions and deferred payments for electricity bills (one month, up to 2 million KRW) and gas bills (one month) for destroyed buildings.

The Ministry of Science and ICT will implement communication service fee reductions for affected residents (12,500 KRW per mobile phone household, 100% off monthly landline fees, 50% off monthly internet fees), full exemption of radio usage fees for wireless stations in the affected areas (six months), and support a one-month reduction of paid broadcasting service fees (IPTV, cable TV, satellite broadcasting, etc.) by at least 50% of the basic fee. The Korea Post will waive handling fees for remittances to other banks, reissuance of deposit and fund passbooks for post office deposit customers, and provide premium payment and refund loan interest payment deferrals for post office insurance customers.

Furthermore, the Ministry of National Defense will utilize military assets to support victims with laundry, heating, drinking water, medical care, and quarantine services to aid in their recovery. The Ministry of Education will provide necessary study materials and psychological and emotional counseling to students from victim households. The National Fire Agency will support water supply to victim shelters and households with damaged water pipes to ensure no disruption in water use, while the National Police Agency will promote a three-month payment deferral for unpaid traffic fines and minor offense fines before and after the wildfire.

Support for resumption of farming for agricultural and forestry workers... Assistance for economic activities of small business owners

Additionally, measures have been prepared to support the resumption of farming and management for agricultural and forestry workers and economic activities for small business owners. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs will supply government-owned seed rice and seed potatoes free of charge to affected farms to prevent disruption of spring farming, provide free repairs for agricultural machinery, support reconstruction and equipment for damaged greenhouses, and supply agricultural tools, vinyl, and seedling boxes. Veterinary care and prescriptions will be provided for affected livestock, along with emergency support for feed and veterinary medicines, and support for facilities and equipment to restore livestock barns. For affected farmers, repayment deferrals and interest exemptions for agricultural and livestock management funds, as well as new loans, will be provided. Disaster insurance subscribers who suffered damage will be paid 50% of the estimated insurance amount in advance upon request. The Korea Forest Service plans to support forestry workers with repayment deferrals and new loans (interest rate 1.8%) for forestry management funds.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will provide policy fund loans (up to 1 billion KRW for SMEs, up to 70 million KRW for small business owners), preferential guarantee rates (from 0.5% to 0.1%), repayment deferrals (up to 18 months), and maturity extensions (up to one year) for affected SMEs and small business owners. It also plans marketing support such as holding online and offline regional product sales events to revitalize the local economy depressed by the wildfire damage.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety will increase the discount rate on local love gift certificates from the current 10% to up to 15% for wildfire-affected areas and promote rent reductions for public property to residents of affected areas through local governments for a certain period. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will support tourism businesses in affected areas by providing repayment deferrals (one year) and interest reductions for loans from the Tourism Promotion and Development Fund to reduce their financial burden.

Extension of acquisition tax and local income tax payment deadlines up to one year... Loan repayment deferrals for affected businesses and individuals

The government will also implement tax and financial support measures for affected residents. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety will provide local tax benefits such as extension of payment deadlines for acquisition tax and local income tax (up to one year) and deferral of collection of local tax assessments and arrears (up to one year). It will also support preferential loan interest rates (around 0.3%) and maturity extensions (up to one year) through Saemaul Geumgo. For special disaster zones, extensions and deferrals can be extended up to two years.

The National Tax Service plans to extend payment deadlines (up to nine months) for comprehensive income tax, value-added tax, and corporate tax for affected residents, suspend forced collection enforcement (up to one year) such as sales of seized real estate, and provide tax deductions for income and corporate taxes if business assets are lost by 20% or more due to the wildfire. Tax audits will be postponed until the end of the year for businesses facing difficulties.

The Financial Services Commission will promote repayment deferrals and maturity extensions (up to one year) for existing loans and guarantees from policy financial institutions (Korea Development Bank, Industrial Bank of Korea, Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, and Korea Agricultural and Fishery Finance Corporation) for affected businesses and individuals. It will also support recovery funds through special guarantees from the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (up to 500 million KRW, guarantee fee rate 0.1%) for directly affected SMEs and special guarantees from the Korea Agricultural and Fishery Finance Corporation (up to 300 million KRW, guarantee fee rate 0.1%) for agricultural, forestry, and fishery workers.

Jeon Hae-cheol, head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (Minister of the Interior and Safety), emphasized, "The government and local governments will make every effort to ensure that disaster victims can fully return to their daily lives and livelihoods," and expressed gratitude to the citizens and companies who have participated in donation collections so far, hoping that warm support will continue to help victims quickly regain stability in their lives.

He added, "Please ensure thorough preparation and execution so that the support measures prepared by related agencies can be practically implemented on the ground, and the relevant authorities should do their best to prepare fundamental measures to respond to changes in the causes and patterns of wildfires as mentioned by the President."

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