Gwanak-gu to Pay 2.5 Million KRW for Flood-Damaged Homes and 5 Million KRW for Businesses from August Heavy Rain

[Seoul District News] Gwanak-gu Completes Payment of 2.5 Million KRW for Houses and 5 Million KRW for Commercial Buildings on September 5 Before Chuseok

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Jun-hee) has made every effort to support the recovery of daily life by providing emergency restoration funds on September 5, before Chuseok, to residents and small business owners affected by the record-breaking heavy rain in August.

The district urgently prepared a second supplementary budget of 79 billion KRW to ensure prompt support for residents affected by flood damage and to proceed smoothly with major projects in the second half of the year.

This supplementary budget focuses on ‘livelihood support’ and is intensively invested in projects that residents can immediately feel, including ▲resolving resident inconveniences and safety (about 21.4 billion KRW) ▲expanding living infrastructure (about 10.7 billion KRW) ▲supporting regional economic vitality and major pending projects (about 3.3 billion KRW) ▲supporting vulnerable groups (about 8.7 billion KRW).

In particular, to provide rapid restoration funds before Chuseok, 15 billion KRW was allocated for emergency restoration of flooded houses and 4.1 billion KRW for small business owners, with payments completed on September 5.

First, the district paid 2.5 million KRW to households with flooded houses. To stabilize the lives of residents affected by flooding, an additional 500,000 KRW was provided as a ‘Disaster Recovery Living Stability Support Fund’ on top of the existing 2 million KRW housing flood restoration fund, using district’s own resources.

The ‘Disaster Recovery Living Stability Support Fund’ was provided automatically without separate application to households recognized as flood victims. Especially, even homeowners who were not previously eligible could apply to receive up to 2.5 million KRW (1 household: 1 million KRW, 2 households: 1.5 million KRW, 3 households: 2 million KRW, 4 or more households: 2.5 million KRW), helping to stabilize the lives of homeowners who suffered actual damage.

Homeowners of flooded houses can apply in person at the local community service center of their house location from September 7 to 16, bringing their ID card, bankbook copy, and real estate registration certificate.

Small business owners affected by the flood also received the full emergency restoration fund of 5 million KRW. The district had continuously requested additional matching funds between Seoul City and autonomous districts to support practical damage recovery, resulting in an additional 3 million KRW on top of the existing 2 million KRW emergency restoration fund.

To ensure timely full payment of support funds to small business owners preparing for the Chuseok peak season, the district requested Seoul City to advance the payment date to before Chuseok, and with active cooperation from the district council, the supplementary budget was reflected and payments were completed promptly.

Additionally, to stabilize the management of small business owners and traditional markets, the supplementary budget includes financial loan interest subsidies (1 billion KRW) and support for revitalizing traditional market usage (50 million KRW), aiming to invigorate the local economy.

The scale of the ‘Small and Medium Enterprise Development Fund Loan Project,’ which temporarily offers a significantly reduced interest rate of 0.8% per annum, will be greatly expanded. The ‘Disaster SME Fund’ (fixed interest rate 2%, up to 200 million KRW limit) and ‘Emergency Management Stabilization Fund’ (fixed interest rate 1.5%, up to 70 million KRW limit) will also be subsidized to allow use at the same low interest rate (0.8% per annum).

Small business owners wishing to apply for loan support can submit an application to the Woori Bank Gwanak-gu Office branch with a Disaster SME Confirmation Certificate issued by Gwanak-gu Office.

To revitalize traditional markets, which suffered significant flood damage, marketing events and other supports are planned. The ‘Gwanak Love Gift Certificates’ worth 14.4 billion KRW, issued on September 1 to promote local consumption, were sold out within one hour of launch, raising expectations for increased local consumption.

Mayor Park Jun-hee said, “I hope this supplementary budget will help stabilize the lives of residents struggling with flood damage and the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. We will do our best in various ways to support residents’ recovery of daily life and livelihood stability, including requesting the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to include small business owners as recipients of disaster relief funds.”

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