Mandatory Job Information for Unemployed Users of Microfinance Services in April

Financial Services Commission and Ministry of Employment Conduct On-site Inspection of 'Financial and Employment Integrated Support'
Vice Chairman Kim: "Starting Collaboration with Employment, Strengthening Cooperation in Welfare Sector"
Deputy Minister Lee Seong-hee of Employment Ministry: "Actively Discover and Promote Success Cases... Actively Link Welfare, Housing, and Psychological Services"
Implementing Tasks Such as Establishing Mobile Consultation Desks and Incentives for Employed Persons
Advancing June Tasks Including Youth Employment Support System Guidance

Kim So-young, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, is delivering opening remarks at the 'Dialogue between the FSC 2030 Advisory Group and the Financial Sector' held on the 24th at the Seoul Jung-gu Community Financial Promotion Agency. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

In April, non-regular income earners or unemployed individuals among users of policy-based low-income finance and debt adjustment will be mandatorily provided with employment support.

On the 8th, the Financial Services Commission and the Ministry of Employment and Labor conducted an on-site inspection to implement the financial and employment integrated support plan, listening to the difficulties faced by directors and counseling staff of the Financial Integrated Support Centers and Employment Welfare+ Centers, and urged active support from the Korea Employment Information Service, the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency, and the Credit Counseling and Recovery Service.

At the inspection meeting, Kim So-young, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, and Lee Seong-hee, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, jointly reviewed the progress of the 'Financial and Employment Integrated Support Plan,' which was jointly announced by the two ministries at the livelihood forum on January 17 and formalized through a memorandum of understanding on January 24. This meeting was arranged following the 'Livelihood Forum Follow-up Inspection Meeting' held on the 4th to share awareness of the necessity of the integrated support plan and to maximize the policy's effectiveness.

Vice Chairman Kim and Vice Minister Lee explained the purpose of the policy and requested that each center provide multi-layered support for the complex difficulties faced by low-income and vulnerable groups. They then held a workshop for counseling staff and related personnel from the Financial Integrated Support Centers and Employment Welfare+ Centers to share cases of financial and employment linkage and facilitate communication among participants.

Vice Minister Lee stated, "Along with the linkage between systems and institutions, human connection is also important. Therefore, we plan to continuously provide opportunities for communication such as training, meetings, and workshops for counselors to carefully understand each system and foster a collaborative atmosphere." He added, "We ask the field to actively discover and promote success stories where livelihood difficulties are resolved through job creation linked to employment and finance."

He further added, "To address the complex difficulties of citizens such as unemployment, debt, caregiving, and childcare all at once, the Employment Welfare+ Centers will integrally connect and provide services not only related to employment and finance but also welfare, housing, and psychological counseling."

Vice Chairman Kim said, "Please actively guide low-income and vulnerable groups so that no one misses out on our government's various support policies due to lack of awareness," and added, "We will actively improve difficulties faced in the field and strengthen cooperation with the welfare sector to create best practice examples of successful whole-of-government collaboration."

The government has so far completed the installation of outreach counseling desks for policy-based low-income finance and debt adjustment consultations at 18 Employment Welfare+ Centers and outreach counseling desks for employment consultations at 13 Financial Integrated Support Centers. Additionally, the operational regulations for the National Employment Support System have been revised to strengthen employment support for users of policy-based low-income finance.

They have also started reducing the guarantee fee by 0.5 percentage points for young first-time applicants of the Youth Sunshine Loan who found employment through the National Employment Support System. Furthermore, the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency and the Credit Counseling and Recovery Service began pilot operation of dedicated employment support counseling desks at the Central Financial Integrated Support Center from March 12.

Moreover, the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency and the Credit Counseling and Recovery Service announced four tasks that can be implemented ahead of the scheduled June policy implementation and decided to implement them in April. First, employment support systems will be mandatorily introduced to non-regular income earners or unemployed users of policy-based low-income finance and debt adjustment visiting the Financial Integrated Support Centers. They also plan to guide youth using the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency’s Youth Sunshine Loan or the Credit Counseling and Recovery Service’s debt adjustment system to the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s youth employment support programs.

Following the Youth Sunshine Loan, the policy-based low-income finance incentives for those employed through the National Employment Support System will also be expedited, reducing guarantee fees by 0.1 percentage points for the Worker Sunshine Loan and Sunshine Loan Bank. The plan to inform delinquent borrowers about employment support systems will initially be implemented through notification messages to small livelihood loan delinquent borrowers.

Meanwhile, the Financial Services Commission and the Ministry of Employment and Labor, together with the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency, the Credit Counseling and Recovery Service, and the Korea Employment Information Service, will continuously communicate with counseling staff at the Employment Welfare+ Centers and Financial Integrated Support Centers to strengthen cooperation for the early implementation and completion of detailed plans scheduled for June and the second half of the year.

In particular, as the Financial, Employment, and Welfare Integrated Support Team composed of the Financial Services Commission, the Ministry of Employment and Labor, and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety is scheduled to operate this month, preparations for the smooth implementation of this plan will be made. Furthermore, efforts will be made to expand the plan to promote comprehensive support for low-income and vulnerable groups visiting the Financial Integrated Support Centers by advancing cooperation in the welfare sector.