Seongdong-gu to Provide 50,000 KRW Winter Heating Allowance per Household to Over 8,000 Vulnerable Families... Why?

Seongdong-gu Utilizes 400 Million KRW Donated by Local Businesses and Residents to Support Heating Costs for Vulnerable Groups

Last month, the Seongdong-gu 'Love Temperature Tower Unveiling Ceremony' was held.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jeong Won-oh) expects that the living conditions of vulnerable groups will be more difficult than usual this year due to the sharp increase in public utility charges. Using the funds collected throughout the year from the Seongdong-gu Sharing Network project, it will provide heating cost support of 50,000 KRW each to a total of about 8,000 households.

According to quarterly data released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the total average monthly increase in electricity and gas charges for a four-person household this year was ▲4,580 KRW in the 2nd quarter ▲3,755 KRW in the 3rd quarter ▲7,670 KRW in the 4th quarter, with increases occurring three times. Heating is essential due to the sudden cold weather, but the burden of heating costs is not insignificant for low-income households.

Accordingly, the district will utilize 400 million KRW raised by the Seongdong Sharing Network to provide 50,000 KRW per household on the 12th of this month to about 8,000 households, including basic livelihood security recipients, single-parent families, and low-income disabled persons who find it difficult to bear heating costs.

Recently, as extreme choices by families suffering from severe debt and utility bill arrears have continued, the need to discover welfare blind spots and improve support systems has emerged. After careful consideration, Seongdong-gu, together with the Seongdong-gu Community Security Council (private co-chair Kwon Ki-hyun) and the Seoul Social Welfare Community Chest, prepared support measures so that vulnerable groups hit hard by the era of high prices and high interest rates would not be pushed into a winter crisis.

Seongdong-gu plans to promote the ‘Warm Village Welfare Seongdong’ project starting with this heating cost support project and will continue various policies such as providing winter supplies and housing cost support to help vulnerable residents have a warm winter.

Jeong Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, “I am very grateful that we can provide essential support to vulnerable groups around us with donations made year-round by local businesses and residents,” and added, “We will continuously seek support measures for low-income vulnerable groups so that all Seongdong residents can have a safe and warm winter.”

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