Kim Mikyung, Eunpyeong District Mayor, Provides 100,000 KRW per Person to 10,000 Small Business Owners Struggling Due to Cold Wave and Economic Downturn
Kim Kyungho, Gwangjin District Mayor, Allocates Supplementary Budget to Support Heating Costs for Energy-Vulnerable Groups Suffering from Cold Wave
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jongil] Kim Mikyung, Mayor of Eunpyeong District, and Kim Kyungho, Mayor of Gwangjin District, have been applauded for leading efforts to support ordinary citizens and small business owners affected by the cold wave.
The ongoing cold wave combined with soaring heating costs has deepened the hardships faced by ordinary citizens.
Amid this situation, Kim Mikyung, Mayor of Eunpyeong District, and Kim Kyungho, Mayor of Gwangjin District, have stepped forward to alleviate these difficulties, earning praise.
On the 29th, Mayor Kim Mikyung announced that she has prepared an emergency support plan for small business owners and vulnerable groups suffering from winter cold waves, rising heating costs, and business deterioration due to high interest rates, and will promptly secure and distribute the necessary budget.
On the morning of the 20th, Mayor Kim convened an emergency executive meeting to devise support measures for cold wave-vulnerable groups and facilities.
The support measures include ▲ management support funds of 100,000 KRW each for about 10,000 small tenant business owners ▲ heating cost support for facilities for the disabled, daycare centers, and kindergartens ▲ provision of cold-weather gear for workers responding to the cold wave, with a budget of approximately 1.2 billion KRW planned.
In addition, the district has been implementing various support measures to respond to the cold wave, such as providing heating supplies to vulnerable groups, health management for elderly living alone and disabled persons, protection activities for the homeless, and spreading cold wave action guidelines via SNS.
Mayor Kim Mikyung of Eunpyeong District said regarding this support plan, "I hope it can be of some help to the cold wave-vulnerable groups and small business owners enduring a harsh winter due to rising heating costs."
Mayor Kim Kyungho of Gwangjin District is preparing a supplementary budget to support public utility fees for energy-vulnerable individuals.
Kim Kyung-ho, Mayor of Gwangjin District
Recently, starting with a sharp rise in heating costs, other public utility fees such as electricity, public transportation, and water and sewage charges are also expected to increase consecutively. Vulnerable groups who spend a high proportion of their expenses on public utility fees are expected to be particularly hard hit.
In response, Gwangjin District acted swiftly to prepare a public utility fee support plan for energy-vulnerable groups. The district has allocated 158 million KRW in the supplementary budget to support electricity and city gas fees for 1,000 households with incomes exceeding 80% but not exceeding 100% of the median income.
The support amount will be up to 10,000 KRW per household per month for electricity fees and up to 12,000 KRW per household per month for city gas fees.
This support for energy-vulnerable groups is part of the ‘Gwangjin-type Coexistence with the Vulnerable Project’ and was promoted to alleviate the double burden on vulnerable groups experiencing ongoing economic stagnation.
Through this project, the district aims to provide practical help to previously unsupported niche groups and realize a win-win welfare system that accompanies more vulnerable groups.
Mayor Kim Kyungho of Gwangjin District said, “The groups most affected by the increase in essential living costs such as electricity and city gas fees are the vulnerable groups. We hope this support will help ease the economic burden on energy-vulnerable individuals even a little.”
The first supplementary budget proposal for 2023 will be reviewed and approved at the 259th Gwangjin District Council extraordinary session and finalized in February. Once the supplementary budget passes, the ‘Public Utility Fee Support for Energy-Vulnerable Groups’ will be implemented starting in March.
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