Living Support Fund for Residents of Seohae 5 Islands to Increase to a Maximum of 160,000 KRW per Month Next Year

The residential living support fund provided to residents of the westernmost Seohae 5 Islands in Incheon will be increased to a maximum of 160,000 KRW per month starting next year.

Incheon City announced on the 26th that it secured 6.68 billion KRW in national funding for the "Seohae 5 Islands Residential Living Support Fund" in the 2024 government budget, which passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 21st. This amount is 580 million KRW more than this year's 6.1 billion KRW, and including local government funds, next year's total residential living support fund from Incheon City will increase to 8.35 billion KRW.

Starting next year, residents who have lived on the Seohae 5 Islands for more than 10 years will receive 160,000 KRW per month, an increase of 10,000 KRW from the current 150,000 KRW, and those who have lived there for more than 6 months but less than 10 years will receive 100,000 KRW per month, an increase of 20,000 KRW from the current 80,000 KRW.

In October last year, Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok visited Daeyeonpyeongdo Island in relation to North Korean shelling, inspected the security situation at the Yeonpyeong Peace Observatory, and emphasized the expansion of resident support.
[Photo by Incheon City]

The residential living support fund was established under the "Seohae 5 Islands Support Special Act," enacted after North Korea's Yeonpyeong Island shelling incident in November 2010, to improve living conditions for residents of the Seohae 5 Islands, including Baengnyeongdo, Yeonpyeongdo, Soyeonpyeongdo, Daecheongdo, and Socheongdo.

Additionally, the budget for the old housing renovation project, which supports the improvement of residential environments for houses over 20 years old, has been increased by 260 million KRW in national funding from this year’s 260 million KRW. While 10 villages received support this year, 20 villages will be supported next year.

An official from Incheon City stated, "We have continuously proposed increases to central government departments and local district lawmakers to improve living conditions on the Seohae 5 Islands. We will continue to strive to secure national funding so that all residents who have lived there for more than six months can receive a residential living support fund of 200,000 KRW."

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