Emergency Disaster Relief Fund Applied by 5.72 Million Households for 3.83 Trillion Won in Three Days

by Jo Inkyung

Published 14 May.2020 10:22(KST)

The government's emergency disaster relief fund credit and debit card recharge application began at 7 a.m. on the 11th through the websites of nine card companies. Similar to the public mask 5-day rotation system, the application follows a day-of-the-week system, and from the 16th, applications can be made at any time. The support fund amounts are 400,000 KRW for single-person households, 600,000 KRW for two-person households, 800,000 KRW for three-person households, and 1,000,000 KRW for households of four or more. The photo shows a citizen in Jongno-gu, Seoul, applying for the support fund that day. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Approximately 5.72 million households have completed their applications for the government's emergency disaster relief fund within three days of the start of the application process.

According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the 14th, from 7 a.m. on the 11th when the emergency disaster relief fund application for credit and debit cards began, a total of 5,720,900 households nationwide had applied by midnight on the 13th. The total amount reached 3.8377 trillion won.

Over the three days, by region, Gyeonggi-do had the highest number of applications with 1,505,353 households applying for 947.682 billion won, followed by Seoul with 1,265,292 households and 832.547 billion won, Busan with 346,493 households and 241.268 billion won, and Incheon with 336,120 households and 235.994 billion won.

Currently, applications for the emergency disaster relief fund are being accepted through the websites of nine affiliated card companies, and applicants can only apply on designated days according to their birth year, similar to the mask distribution 5-day rotation system. On the 14th, only household heads whose birth year ends in 4 or 9 can apply.

The day-of-week system applies only during the first week, and from the 16th, any citizen can apply regardless of birth year. Applications for other payment methods such as prepaid cards and local love gift certificates will be available starting from the 18th.