This Year's Fire Safety Grant Tax, 869.2 Billion Won Allocated to 17 Cities and Provinces

44 Billion Won Increase Compared to the Previous Year

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 1st that it will allocate 869.2 billion KRW in fire safety grants for 2023 to 17 cities and provinces nationwide, an increase of 4.4 billion KRW (0.5%) from the previous year (864.8 billion KRW), to support local governments in expanding fire and safety facilities (equipment).

Of the 869.2 billion KRW in fire safety grants, 482.9 billion KRW will be used for personnel expenses for firefighters to expand on-site fire personnel, and 386.3 billion KRW will be used as project funds for cities and provinces to expand fire and safety facilities (equipment) and strengthen safety management.

The personnel expense allocation was calculated based on the number of firefighters recruited by each city and province from July 2017 to the end of June 2022 to address the shortage of on-site fire personnel (a total of 17,148 firefighters).

Of the project funds, 38.6 billion KRW (10% of the project funds) will be allocated to special demands requiring large-scale budgets, and 347.7 billion KRW (90% of the project funds) will be provided for general demands autonomously executed by cities and provinces to expand fire and safety facilities (equipment).

Joo Sang-myeong, Director of the Safety Policy Office at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, stated, “We hope that the fire safety grant support will help expand the fire and safety infrastructure of cities and provinces,” adding, “We plan to continuously improve the fire safety grants so that they reflect not only the fire services but also the safety investment demands of cities and provinces well, through demand analysis of disaster safety prevention projects.”