Gyeonggi Province to Distribute 100,000 Won in Emergency Basic Income to Foreigners Starting April 1

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hun] Starting April 1, Gyeonggi Province will distribute "Second Gyeonggi Province Emergency Basic Income" of 100,000 won per person in regional currency to foreigners residing in the province, identical to Korean citizens.

According to the province on the 24th, the recipients are registered and domiciled foreigners (including ethnic Koreans abroad) residing in Gyeonggi Province as of January 19, 2021, the announcement date of the second emergency basic income plan, with valid residence periods remaining, totaling approximately 570,000 people.

This represents a 5.7-fold increase compared to the first round of emergency basic income for foreigners last year, which was limited to approximately 100,000 beneficiaries including married immigrants and permanent residents.

As the unprecedented disaster situation of COVID-19 has become prolonged, the province decided to significantly expand the target group, recognizing that both domestic and foreign residents are experiencing economic difficulties.

The application period runs from April 1 to April 30, and applications are available both online and offline in consideration of quarantine conditions.

Online applications are available from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., seven days a week, through the foreigners-exclusive emergency basic income website (forbasicincome.gg.go.kr) in Korean, English, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Russian. However, applications on the first day, April 1, will be available starting at 9:00 a.m.

Offline applications can be made at the administrative welfare center in your residential eup, myeon, or dong from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on weekdays (Monday to Friday). While weekend windows are not opened in principle, local municipalities may operate them autonomously based on their situations.

To prevent congestion at offline windows at the beginning, a five-day rotation system based on birth year will be applied from April 1 to April 9.

Those born in years ending in 1 or 6 must apply on Mondays, 2 or 7 on Tuesdays, 3 or 8 on Wednesdays, 4 or 9 on Thursdays, and 5 or 0 on Fridays.

Emergency basic income will be distributed in regional currency (card type, paper form, etc.). The expiration date is June 30, after which unused amounts will be recovered.

The money must be used at regional currency-participating businesses within the province and cannot be used at department stores, large discount retailers, entertainment establishments, and gambling facilities.

Seongnam, Siheung, and Gimpo cities, which do not use card-type regional currency, can only apply offline.

Minors can only apply offline as well.

The province plans to increase issuing counters by observing future application trends and will make advance checks on quarantine conditions at the sites to ensure full quarantine measures.

Kim Kyou-sik, head of the Gyeonggi Province Labor Bureau, said, "Since everyone is going through difficult economic times, there is no reason to exclude foreigners differently. We hope everyone without exception will apply," and added, "We will continue to make efforts to implement universal policies for stable community settlement and social integration of foreign residents."

Details can be found on the Gyeonggi Province website (www.gg.go.kr) and through municipal governments.

On the Gyeonggi Province website, guidance materials in English, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai, and instructional videos in 13 languages including English, Chinese, Vietnamese, Uzbek, Khmer, Thai, Nepali, Burmese, Russian, Mongolian, Indonesian, Sinhala, and Bengali are available.