South Korea to hand cash payouts to 36 million people to ease rising fuel prices

The South Korean government is set to roll out a second batch of aid for the bottom 70 percent of income earners, or about 36 million people, in an effort to ease financial strains caused by rising fuel prices amid the war in the Middle East.

Last month, the National Assembly approved a 26.2 trillion-won ($17.8 billion) extra budget bill to address the economic fallout from the Middle East conflict, which includes the introduction of the cash assistance plan.

Under the first program launched in April, the government handed out up to 600,000 won to recipients of basic livelihood security and other vulnerable groups.

According to Officials, the government will begin accepting applications next Monday for the second round of the assistance program. Eligible individuals living in the broader Seoul area will receive 100,000 won, while those in areas with declining populations may receive up to 250,000 won each.

On Monday, government officials announced that applications for the second phase of the support scheme will open next Monday, with eligible residents in the greater Seoul area set to receive 100,000 won, while people living in regions facing population decline could get as much as 250,000 won each.

Assistance eligibility will be determined by a household’s national health insurance payment in March this year. For single-person households, those who paid 130,000 won or less will be eligible.

In terms of annual income, a single-person household that earns 43.4 million or less a year is expected to be eligible for the assistance.

A welfare ministry official, however, noted that eligibility will be based on the national health insurance payment.

Also, about 930,000 households that held assets exceeding 1.2 billion won as of last year or earned more than 20 million won in financial income in 2024 will not be eligible for the program, according to the official.

The government will accept applications for the cash assistance through July 3.

Recipients can receive the assistance through their credit and debit cards, prepaid cards or local currency vouchers.

The funds, which will expire Aug. 31, can only be used at small local businesses with annual sales of 3 billion won or less.

“The high-oil price support fund is expected to reduce the people’s burdens stemming from the prolonged war in the Middle East and revive dampened consumption,” Interior Minister Yun Ho-jung said in a briefing.