Relief payout donation hits 28 bln won in 1 month

SEOUL, June 15 (Yonhap) -- The amount of new coronavirus relief funds donated back to the government has topped 28 billion won (US$23 million) in one month, a government agency said Monday.

Some 156,000 donations of emergency handouts, worth 28.2 billion won, were made between May 11 and June 10, according to the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service, which is affiliated with the labor ministry.

The amount accounts for around 0.2 percent of the total 13.6 trillion won of relief payouts that were handed out to local residents as of June 8.

The total amount of donations will be available after August 18 when applications for the emergency handout will end. Around 4.6 percent of recipients have not yet applied for the handout.

The relief payouts are part of South Korea's efforts to minimize the economic fallout from the new coronavirus pandemic that has infected more than 12,000 here.

South Korean families can apply to receive the relief payout through prepaid cards, gift certificates or their own credit and debit cards to receive up to 1 million won depending on the number of family members

Instead of spending the emergency payout, they can opt to donate part or all of it, which will be used to support more needy people.