Up to 600,000 Won High Oil Price Relief Payments Begin

Starting April 27, up to 600,000 won in relief funds will be disbursed per person to 70% of the public experiencing hardship due to significantly increased oil prices.

The usage areas for the support funds are limited to the local government jurisdiction based on residency registration. Residents of special cities and metropolitan cities (including Sejong and Jeju) can use the funds throughout their respective provinces, while residents of rural provinces can only use them within the city or county of their registered address.

The support funds cannot be used for entertainment and gambling businesses, cash-convertible businesses such as gift certificate redemption, large foreign-affiliated stores, automatic payments for utility bills and communication fees, insurance premiums, or donations.

Usage locations also vary depending on the payment method. If received as a local currency gift certificate, it can be used at merchants within the respective local government. If received via credit/debit card or prepaid card, it can only be used at small and medium-sized businesses with annual sales of 3 billion won or less, excluding certain business types.

The government has cautioned the public to beware of smishing scams disguised as notifications for the high oil price relief fund. It stated that no text messages containing URLs or links will be sent for online applications.