Pohang City Secures Additional 123 Billion KRW Budget for Earthquake Damage Relief Support Fund

Best Efforts for Substantial Damage Support through Securing Sufficient Budget

Pohang City Hall.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] Pohang City, Gyeongbuk Province, has secured an additional budget of 123 billion KRW through consultations with relevant government ministries to cover compensation for residents affected by the induced earthquake.

The city noted that the number of earthquake damage compensation applications significantly exceeded the government's initial expectations. Following the city's continuous requests, the Pohang Earthquake Damage Compensation Deliberation Committee under the Prime Minister's Office partially relaxed the support criteria for earthquake victims, resulting in increased required funds and the securing of additional budget.

Pohang City has been entrusted with the reception of applications and disbursement of support funds for affected residents through a delegation agreement with the Pohang Earthquake Damage Compensation Deliberation Committee under the Prime Minister's Office, which is the main agency for earthquake damage support.

Through various promotional activities such as banners, leaflets, media coverage, and SNS, from September 2020 to August 31 of last year, approximately one year, a total of 126,071 applications for compensation related to the Pohang induced earthquake were received. This represents about a 42% increase compared to the 88,852 damage cases reported immediately after the earthquake on November 15, 2017.

As a result of continuous proposals to the Damage Compensation Deliberation Committee under the Prime Minister's Office in accordance with the Earthquake Special Act, practical support measures for affected residents were achieved, including ‘expansion of support limits for common areas of apartment complexes (120 million KRW → 500 million KRW)’, ‘additional recognition of automobile damage’, ‘expansion of mental damage support scope’, ‘expansion of support scope for mixed-use commercial buildings’, and ‘expansion of support for apartment complexes that were classified as minor damage but suffered relatively significant harm’.

In addition to the 80% national support rate presented at the time of the enactment of the Earthquake Special Act and its enforcement decree, the city promoted full compensation for affected residents by agreeing with Gyeongbuk Province to additionally bear 20% of local government expenses.

The government and the city had allocated a damage support budget of 375 billion KRW last year for earthquake damage support, but as most of the budget has now been exhausted, it was decided to cover the shortfall through supplementary budget compilation and use of contingency funds.

Go Wonhak, head of the Earthquake Special Support Team, said, “Although the government's financial conditions are difficult due to COVID-19 and other factors, we secured additional budget through the city's active and continuous requests and persuasion. We will continue to do our best to provide practical and sufficient support for affected residents.”

The Pohang Earthquake Damage Compensation Deliberation Committee under the Prime Minister's Office has completed payment of a total of 370.1 billion KRW in support funds for 86,151 damage applications as of April. For applications submitted in August last year, which were 4.9 times the average monthly number of applications, the committee is reviewing them in four installments and plans to complete the support fund review decisions by June at the latest.

For inquiries regarding the progress of earthquake damage applications or re-examinations, contact can be made through the dedicated earthquake damage application call center.

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