Pocheon City Finalizes Second Supplementary Budget of KRW 1.1453 Trillion... All-Out Effort for 'Livelihood Stability Amid High Oil Prices'

Pocheon City Council Passes Second Supplementary Budget

KRW 33.6 Billion Increase to Overcome High Oil Prices

Pocheon City in Gyeonggi Province held an emergency meeting presided over by the mayor on April 12 to discuss focused measures for providing additional local support for those affected by soaring oil prices, as citizens have been struggling with increased living costs due to the prolonged Middle East conflict and surging international oil prices.

Pocheon City Hall exterior view. Provided by Pocheon City

During the meeting, the city decided to reflect the additional oil price relief programs in a supplementary budget and requested a special session of the Pocheon City Council the next day, April 13. On April 21, the council gave final approval for the second supplementary budget for fiscal year 2026.

The core of this initiative is to respond to the government’s supplementary budget aimed at minimizing the impact of oil price hikes caused by unstable Middle Eastern oil supply, while also accelerating the implementation of tailored local support projects funded by the city’s own resources to address the unique needs of Pocheon, which cannot be sufficiently covered by government aid alone.

This supplementary budget, totaling KRW 1.1453 trillion, represents an increase of KRW 33.6 billion over the original budget. It includes KRW 13.1 billion in government-funded oil price relief payments, as well as KRW 16.6 billion for seven additional support initiatives led by Pocheon City. The main additional support measures outlined in the second supplementary budget are as follows.

First, each of the city’s 12 local child care centers will receive an additional KRW 500,000 in operating funds to help ease the burden of fuel costs for school transportation, thereby ensuring a safer environment for children’s care.

Additionally, support will be provided to vulnerable facilities, with each of the 20 welfare facilities for people with disabilities, six senior residential welfare facilities, and 311 senior community centers receiving KRW 1 million, amounting to a total of KRW 337 million in additional subsidies. Furthermore, individuals just above the eligibility threshold for disability pension will each receive KRW 100,000, ensuring that at-risk groups are not left out of the support system.

To help local small and medium-sized businesses facing management difficulties due to skyrocketing raw material and logistics costs, the city will increase the interest subsidy fund for business loans by KRW 100 million, raising the total to KRW 700 million, in order to improve access to financing for these companies.

In addition, to revitalize the subdued local economy, the monthly issuance limit for the Pocheon Love Gift Certificate benefit and reimbursement program (incentives and cashback) will be doubled from KRW 600 million to KRW 1.2 billion, effectively increasing the number of beneficiaries twofold. With an annual budget of KRW 3 billion allocated to this program, the aim is to boost citizens’ real purchasing power and promote a virtuous cycle in the local economy by driving up sales for small business owners.

A Pocheon City official stated, "The prolonged high oil and consumer prices triggered by the recent Middle East conflict have put citizens under unprecedented economic pressure and threatened their livelihood. As these measures are intended to protect people’s daily lives in crisis, we hope the city council will join us to enable citizens to regain stability as soon as possible."

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