Emergency Disaster Relief Fund Applications Total 1.21 Trillion Won from 1,807,700 Households Nationwide on First Day (Comprehensive)

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 schedule, but from the 16th, applications can be made at any time. The support amounts are 400,000 won for single-person households, 600,000 won for two-person households, 800,000 won for three-person households, and 1,000,000 won 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] On the first day of the emergency disaster relief fund application, the 11th, a total of 1,807,715 households nationwide applied for disaster relief funds amounting to 1.2188 trillion won, according to data compiled on the 12th. On that day, applications were accepted via credit or debit card charging for household heads whose birth year ended in 1 or 6. It is estimated that about 40% of the eligible households completed their applications that day.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety did not disclose the donation rate or amount among the relief fund applications, fearing it might be perceived as coercing donations.

However, in cases where donations were mistakenly selected during the application process, cancellations are being processed on the same day by each card company. Currently, for cards issued by Kookmin, NH, Hana, BC, and Lotte, donation cancellations can be made on the emergency disaster relief fund application page on their websites, and for other card companies, inquiries can be made through their call centers.

On the second day, the 12th, household heads whose birth year ends in 2 or 7 can apply. The day-of-the-week system is only applied during the first week of implementation, and from the 16th, applications can be made regardless of birth year. Additionally, from the 18th, applicants can visit the affiliated bank counters of card companies directly to apply for credit or debit card charging funds.

Yoon Jong-in, Vice Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, "Since this is an issue of high public interest, we will monitor in real-time to ensure there are no delays or errors in access to prevent inconvenience to the public," and added, "From the perspective of social distancing in daily life, we ask that you actively use online card charging."

The government made the first cash payment of 1.29 trillion won on the 4th to about 2.83 million households receiving basic livelihood security benefits, basic pensions, or disability pensions who are eligible for cash emergency disaster relief funds, including both household heads and members registered on the resident registration.