Yoon Jeong-min, Gwangju Seo-gu Council Member, Urges Action on Omitted Disability Living Support Payments and Prevention of Recurrence

Yoon Jeong-min, a member of the Gwangju Metropolitan City Seo-gu Council, urged measures and prevention of recurrence regarding the ‘Omission of Disability Living Support Payment’ reported last April during his 5-minute free speech at the 1st plenary session of the 324th extraordinary meeting on the 16th.

The disability living support payment has been provided since 2012, giving 20,000 KRW monthly to severely disabled individuals who are basic livelihood security recipients or belong to the next-lowest income bracket. However, a comprehensive audit of Gwangju Metropolitan City last October confirmed that payments had been omitted.

Councilor Yoon stated, “As of the end of last year, among 1,333 eligible recipients in the district, 78 had missed payments, with the unpaid amount totaling approximately 69 million KRW. Additionally, omitted support payments for the recent five years (September 2018 to August 2023) amounting to about 45 million KRW were paid retroactively, but the remaining approximately 19 million KRW were not paid due to the expiration of the rights validity period (5 years).”

He continued, “Regarding payments past the rights validity period (5 years), the district office received legal advice through a lawyer that there is a possibility of payment depending on the review by the relevant deliberation committee, and has proposed this to Gwangju Metropolitan City. Therefore, I urge Gwangju Metropolitan City to conduct a progressive review and for the executive branch to take a proactive role.”

He emphasized, “If there had been no omissions in the nature of the support payments, more severely disabled individuals would have benefited, and the effectiveness would have been greater. I request active review and measures from related personnel and officials to prevent recurrence, including thorough work review and improvement of the social security information system.”

Finally, he concluded his remarks by saying, “Recently, issues such as the illegality of age restrictions (under 65) on welfare projects like the ‘Day Activity Service for People with Developmental Disabilities’ have been raised. I hope our district will stand tall as a ‘Good City Seo-gu’ that exercises administrative power in advance to provide meticulous support and guarantee rights to residents, using this extraordinary meeting as a turning point.”

Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Shin Dong-ho bless4ya@asiae.co.kr