Second Round of High Oil Price Relief Payments: 70% of Citizens to Receive 100,000–250,000 Won Each

Bottom 70% by Health Insurance Premium Income Criteria
High-Asset Individuals Excluded
Applications and Payments Accepted from May 18 to July 3

The government will provide a second round of high oil price relief payments to citizens whose incomes fall within the bottom 70% based on health insurance premiums, granting between 100,000 and 250,000 won per individual. High-asset households will be excluded, while a regional preferential principle will be applied so that residents in non-metropolitan and depopulated areas receive stronger support.

Yonhap News

On May 11, Minister of the Interior and Safety Yoon Ho-joong held a joint briefing with relevant ministries at the Seoul Government Complex and announced this plan for the second round of high oil price relief payments.

Minister Yoon stated, "As the war in the Middle East continues into its third month, the prolonged shock of high oil prices, high inflation, and a strong dollar is being directly reflected in daily living costs, further burdening people's livelihoods. Therefore, the government intends to provide a second round of high oil price relief payments so that the public can fully emerge from this dark tunnel."

The second round of relief payments will be given to the bottom 70% of all households based on the total health insurance premiums assessed in March of this year. For single-income households, salaried employees in single-person households are eligible if their premium is 130,000 won or less, and two-person households if their premium is 140,000 won or less. For local subscribers, single-person households qualify at 80,000 won or less, and two-person households at 120,000 won or less.

Ministry of the Interior and Safety

In particular, to ensure that dual-income and multi-earner households with higher combined incomes are not disadvantaged, the payment threshold will be calculated by adding one household member compared to the standard for single-income households. For example, a four-person household with two salaried employees will be assessed using the five-person household threshold (390,000 won or less), not the four-person threshold for salaried employees (320,000 won).

High-asset households that cannot be identified using health insurance premium information will be assessed using separate criteria and excluded from the payment. Specifically, if the combined 2025 property tax standard value for all household members exceeds 1.2 billion won, or if the total financial income attributable to 2024 exceeds 20 million won, all members of that household will be excluded from receiving the payment.

The payment amount will be 100,000 won per person for residents of the metropolitan area and 150,000 won per person for non-metropolitan residents. Among designated depopulated areas, residents of preferential support regions will receive 200,000 won, and residents of special support regions will receive 250,000 won each.

Applications for the second round of support payments will be accepted from May 18 to July 3, and the funds must be used by August 31, the same deadline as the first round of payments.

Citizens who wish to receive the payment via credit or debit card may apply online through their card company's website, app, call center, or ARS system, or by visiting a bank branch affiliated with their card. In addition, vulnerable groups who were eligible for the first round of payments but did not apply during the previous application period may also apply during the second round.

Applications for the first round of support payments targeting the basic livelihood security recipients, near-poverty groups, and single-parent families closed at 6:00 p.m. on May 8. The payment amount was 550,000 won per basic livelihood security recipient, and 450,000 won per member of near-poverty groups or single-parent families. The payout rate for the first round was 91.2%.

Minister Yoon said, "Last year's 'Livelihood Recovery Consumption Coupon' resulted in 43.3% of the payout translating into additional sales for small business owners, reigniting the spark for economic recovery. Likewise, we expect that the high oil price relief payments will help ease the burden on citizens caused by the prolonged Middle East conflict, revive subdued consumption, and serve as a driving force for revitalizing local economies and restoring livelihoods."

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