President Lee Jae-myung said Wednesday that the government has prepared a 2.8 trillion won ($2.0 billion) livelihood stabilization package "to serve as a solid pillar of support for citizens struggling with economic hardship."
In a policy speech on the supplementary budget delivered at the National Assembly, Lee said the government will double the number of "Geunyang Dream Centers," which provide free food and daily necessities, from 150 to 300. "We will ensure that no one is driven to extreme choices or falls into crime because they have nothing to eat," he said.
Lee said the government will supply more than 300 billion won in additional policy funds to small business owners facing difficulties and expand the Hope Return Package program by 8,000 cases to help those who were forced to close their businesses get back on their feet.
"We will significantly increase support for clearing unpaid wages and expand employment retention subsidies to ensure stable livelihoods for workers and preemptively respond to any sudden employment shocks," he said.
The president said the government will expand the areas eligible for rural basic income to broadly support farming and fishing communities struggling with population decline and aging. "We will also pay greater attention to K-shaped polarization, where gaps are widening across all classes, generations, and industries," he said.
"This crisis inevitably hits young people taking their first steps into society the hardest," Lee said. "One solution is to create more jobs by increasing opportunities for startups and employment."
Lee said the government will invest 400 billion won in national funds into the "Startup for All" project and push to build science-centered startup cities to spread the startup boom nationwide. He added that the government will establish the K-New Deal Academy, a vocational training program linked with major corporations, for young people classified as "resting youth" to help them find the courage to try again. The government will also lower the threshold for the National Employment Support System to broadly support young people with no work experience so they can have hope for employment, he said.