Gas bill vouchers, discounts to be provided to households in need in Korea

Choi Sang-mok, senior presidential secretary for economic affairs, speaks during a press briefing at the presidential office in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Thursday. [YONHAP]

Vouchers and discounted gas rates will be provided to lift the burden of heating costs for the socially vulnerable, the presidential office announced Thursday.

The announcement was made Thursday morning during a briefing at the presidential office by Choi Sang-mok, senior presidential secretary for economic affairs.

“Although there are aspects where energy price hikes are unavoidable due to difficult economic conditions, the government will exert its best policy efforts to minimize the burden on the public for heating costs,” said Choi during the briefing.

Choi said that the energy voucher support policy, already in place for the vulnerable population, will be raised from 152,000 won ($123) to 304,000 won this winter for a limited period.

Korea Gas Corporation will double its rate discount this winter for 1.6 million households that are categorized as needing “social consideration.” The categorization is based on a number of factors including whether households have family members with disabilities, veterans or students studying in rural areas, whether households are beneficiaries of the national basic livelihood policies, and a number of other factors.

“The reason behind the recent sharp rise in heating costs is that we have suppressed rate increases for the past few years despite external factors pushing for an increase, and international gas prices have soared up to 10 times or more since the second half of 2021,” said Choi. “Compared to other countries, our heating prices are still at a very low level.”

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]