Ministry of the Interior and Safety to Distribute 11 Trillion Won 'COVID-19 Coexistence National Support Fund'... 14.8 Trillion Won Invested in 5 Sectors

Expansion of Local Love Gift Certificates and Local Job Projects... Expected to Support Citizens and Strengthen Local Economy
National Support Fund 1 Million Won for 4-Person Household... Bottom 80% Income + α

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Following the passage of the second supplementary budget bill in the National Assembly plenary session, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety will invest more than 14.8 trillion won to implement projects such as the COVID-19 coexistence national support fund, local love gift certificates, and region-led youth job creation programs.

According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the 24th, the ministry's projects included in this second supplementary budget cover five areas: coexistence national support fund, expansion of local love gift certificate issuance, hope work support project, region-led youth job creation project, and reinforcement of local government resources, totaling 14.869 trillion won.

First, the Ministry will provide a COVID-19 coexistence national support fund worth 11 trillion won to strongly protect many citizens suffering from the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. The support target is households in the bottom 80% of income based on health insurance premiums, with 250,000 won provided per person. For a family of four, this amounts to about 1 million won.

However, separate criteria will be applied to provide broader support for dual-income and single-person households. For dual-income households, the health insurance premium selection criteria will be applied by adding one person to the household size, and for single-person households, the criteria were raised to a health insurance premium level corresponding to an annual income of about 50 million won, reflecting the characteristics of many elderly and non-working populations.

An official from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety explained, "The national support fund can be received by choosing among credit/debit cards, local love gift certificates, or prepaid cards through online or offline applications," adding, "The payment timing will be finally decided in mid-August after consulting with quarantine authorities depending on the COVID-19 situation."

To revitalize the local economy struggling due to COVID-19, 15 trillion won will be invested this year to increase the scale of local love gift certificate issuance support to 20 trillion won. As of July, 69.5% of the local love gift certificate issuance support project has been executed, receiving great response from local residents and small business owners. With this supplementary budget, the 10% discount sale of local love gift certificates will continue, expected to stimulate consumption and increase sales for self-employed and small business owners facing difficulties due to COVID-19.

Additionally, 50,000 public jobs will be newly provided for residents needing employment and livelihood support due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. The project targets not only vulnerable groups such as low-income and disabled persons but also residents requiring economic support due to COVID-19. Participants will be deployed in projects designed according to local conditions, such as supporting regional vaccination centers, disinfecting public facilities, and supporting economic activities in rural and fishing villages.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

3,000 Additional Region-Led Youth Jobs... Reinforcement of Local Government Resources

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety will also promote 3,000 additional region-settlement support type youth jobs that connect young people facing difficulties in job seeking with local-based companies. As a result, the number of region-settlement support type youth jobs will increase from 2,462 to 5,462.

The participants are unemployed youth under the age of 39 who, after going through recruitment announcements by local governments, will be employed at local-based excellent certified or hometown companies and start working from October, receiving wage support for three months until the end of the year. The region-settlement support type is a project that supports up to two years; after the initial three months of support this year, if the youth continue to work at the company in 2022 and 2023, additional support will be provided for up to two years.

Also, an additional 5.9 trillion won in local allocation tax from the supplementary budget will be allocated to reinforce the finances of local governments that are making all-out efforts to respond to COVID-19. The local allocation tax is a general fund allocated to local governments at 19.24% of domestic taxes for local administrative operations. The increase in this supplementary budget is based on 19.24% of the increase in domestic taxes of 30.6 trillion won due to the national supplementary budget, as stipulated by the Local Allocation Tax Act.

Local governments plan to actively allocate budgets using the allocation tax for local expenses responding to this supplementary budget’s projects such as the coexistence national support fund, as well as for their own support for small business owners and local economic revitalization projects.

Minister Jeon Hae-cheol stated, "Through this supplementary budget project of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, we expect to support citizens suffering from COVID-19 and help stabilize quarantine and improve the livelihood economy," adding, "The Ministry will support local governments to ensure the supplementary budget is executed and utilized without delay so that citizens can feel its effects in a timely manner, and we will cooperate together."