Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Gyeonggi Province asked to offer COVID-19 subsidies to foreigners
Migrants and Korean activists protest at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, urging local governments to pay COVID-19 subsidies to foreign residents, in this April 26 photo. Yonhap
By Bahk Eun-ji
By Bahk Eun-ji
The state-run human rights agency asked Gyeonggi Provincial Government Sunday to provide financial support to foreign residents under its jurisdiction amid the ongoing controversy over the exclusion of non-Koreans from the disaster relief fund.
For the second time, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) advised Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung in March to offer the subsidies allocated by the government to all foreign residents in the region with registered addresses, but it was later confirmed that some foreign residents weren't covered.
The fund was created to reduce the people's financial burden during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Previously, a New Zealand-born ethnic Korean and a Chinese-Korean resident in Gyeonggi Province filed a petition with the human rights agency, claiming that foreigners in Gyeonggi Province were excluded from the list of eligible recipients for the fund.
Regarding the petition, the NHRC said, “Foreigners should follow the obligations and guidelines imposed to prevent infectious diseases regardless of nationality, so the impact of COVID-19 pandemic is similar to everyone living in the same area.”
It also said that treating foreign nationals living in the region differently from Koreans is a violation of their human rights as it can cause discrimination against them.
In line with its recommendation, the commission advised Gyeonggi Province in May not to exclude foreign residents with registered addresses in the province from the list of beneficiaries.
However, regarding the commission's recommendation at the time, Gyeonggi Province said, “It is difficult to provide additional support to foreign residents who have not been paid the subsidies.” The provincial government added, “We will comprehensively review the reasons for paying the disaster relief fund in the future as it requires public discussion, revision of ordinances and securing funds when the payment target is expanded.”
Some media outlets reported that Gyeonggi Province decided not to provide the disaster aid to foreigners after refusing to accept the commission's recommendation.
In response to the report, Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung directly refuted the report, and said it was difficult to implement the recommendations right away, so the local government submitted a plan to implement the recommendations for improvement to the human rights agency with the opinion that it will “review in the medium to long term.”