Residents apply for high oil price relief payments at a community center in Seoul on April 27. The program provides 100,000 won ($68) to 600,000 won ($407) per person to the bottom 70% of income earners, with payment options including credit or debit cards, prepaid cards and local gift certificates. Photo by Asia Today
May 1 (Asia Today) — More than 73% of people eligible for South Korea’s first round of high oil price relief payments have applied, government data showed Friday.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said 2,358,682 people had applied as of midnight Thursday, accounting for 73.1% of the 3,227,785 people eligible in the first round.
The government has paid a total of 1.3413 trillion won ($910 million) in relief funds, or about 570,000 won ($387) per person.
The first round covers vulnerable groups, including basic livelihood security recipients, near-poverty households and single-parent families.
By payment method, credit and debit cards were the most common choice, used by 984,209 applicants, or 41.7%. Prepaid cards accounted for 814,056 applicants, followed by mobile or card-type local gift certificates at 493,254 and paper gift certificates at 67,163.
By region, South Jeolla Province had the highest application rate at 79.3%, followed by Busan at 77.7%, Gwangju at 76.9%, North Jeolla Province at 76.2% and Ulsan at 76%.
Applications remain open through May 8.
— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260501010000031