South Korea includes foreign residents with ‘close ties’ to citizens in state relief plan

Some foreign residents in South Korea will be eligible for government cash handouts, ranging from 100,000 won (US$67) to 600,000 won, to be distributed later in April under a supplementary budget aimed at offsetting high fuel costs amid the prolonged Middle East conflict.Non-South Korean nationals were in principle excluded from the subsidy programme, but exceptions would be made for those deemed to have “close ties” to citizens, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said on Sunday.Foreign nationals are eligible if they are listed on a resident registration record alongside at least one South Korean citizen and are enrolled in the national health insurance system, either as subscribers or dependants.Entirely foreign households may also qualify if they include permanent residents, marriage migrants or refugees, as long as those members are enrolled in the national health insurance system or are recipients of state medical aid.Fuel prices are displayed at a petrol station in Seoul on March 29. Photo: Yonhap/EPASouth Korean nationals living overseas will be eligible if they returned to the country between March 30 and July 17 and apply for the payments through a separate application process by July 17.The cash aid programme is part of a broader 26.2 trillion won supplementary budget approved by the National Assembly on Friday to mitigate the economic fallout from the Middle East crisis, with 6.1 trillion won allocated to the programme.