The Ministry of Health and Welfare said on the 16th it will revamp the "emergency welfare program" to shorten the period of cash support for low-income households. The emergency welfare program provides up to 783,000 won for as long as six months (for a single-person household) to households that struggle to make ends meet due to the death of the main earner, among other reasons. It also plans to exclude criminals who committed child abuse and other offenses from receiving National Pension credits.
The ministry announced these key initiatives for the second half of the year during a ministerial briefing at the state guesthouse at the Blue House attended by President Lee Jae-myung. Currently, the emergency welfare program works by having eup, myeon and dong offices accept applications and si, gun and gu offices determine eligibility. Because of this, it takes about three days for cash to be paid, but the ministry plans to revamp the system so that eup, myeon and dong offices can immediately pay part of the amount, such as 100,000–200,000 won.
The move follows the death of a person in their 60s who applied for the emergency welfare program in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, last year but did not receive support due to budget shortages. The remaining amount will be paid sequentially over three days as it is now. Authorities will identify 1,000 households in crisis and, in collaboration with the Shinhan Financial Hope Foundation, provide them with up to 3 million won for living expenses and other needs.
In addition, those convicted of child abuse crimes or offenders who caused trouble during military service and received a prison sentence of one year and six months or longer will be excluded from National Pension credits. The National Pension pays more the longer the contribution period. Because of this, in certain situations such as childbirth and military service, people cannot pay into the National Pension and their retirement benefits decrease, and the credit system adds this period to the contribution record. With this overhaul, offenders whose conduct runs against public sentiment will be excluded from such benefits.