Incheon’s Jemulpo-gu District (Mayor Kim Chan-jin) is carrying out its “2026 Second-Half Regular Eligibility Review of Social Security Benefits” through December to reconfirm residents’ eligibility for welfare benefits. The review has two aims: to prevent leaks in welfare spending and to protect vulnerable residents who have fallen through the cracks of the welfare system.
 [The Korean Today] Jemulpo-gu District’s second-half regular eligibility review of social security benefits © Reporter Kim Mi-hee |
The review covers recipients of 11 major welfare programs, including basic livelihood security, the basic pension and the disability pension. The district plans to closely examine whether recipients still meet eligibility requirements, using 69 types of up-to-date income and asset data obtained from the National Tax Service, the National Health Insurance Service and 141 financial institutions, among other sources.
The regular eligibility review is a procedure for reflecting changes in recipients’ income and assets in their benefits. Its main function is to stop benefits from continuing to go to people who are no longer eligible. However, relying solely on computerized data has its limits, as benefits could be reduced or cut off even for households that are actually struggling.
In this review, the district is placing particular emphasis on protecting residents’ rights. Households whose benefits may be reduced or who may lose eligibility because their income or assets were found to have increased will receive a notice before any decision is made. The aim is to first give these households an opportunity to fully explain their circumstances.
Some residents may find it difficult to prepare supporting documents on their own, even when their actual living conditions differ from what the computerized records show. In such cases, district officials will provide tailored counseling. The district plans to actively reflect explanatory materials obtained through counseling in its decisions.
Households that unavoidably lose their existing benefits because they exceed the eligibility thresholds will not be left on their own. If a household is genuinely struggling, the district plans to proactively identify and connect it with other welfare programs for which it may qualify, such as emergency welfare support or programs for the near-poor. The measure is intended to ensure that the suspension of benefits does not immediately lead to a crisis in livelihood.
“While thoroughly preventing leaks in the welfare budget based on accurate data, we will take great care to ensure that no neighbor is unfairly pushed into a welfare blind spot for reasons on paper,” Jemulpo-gu District Mayor Kim Chan-jin said. “We will carry out responsible welfare administration that firmly safeguards the daily lives of each and every resident.”
Recipient households in the covered programs are advised to check for notices sent by the district during the review period and to make use of the explanation process. The review reflects the district’s commitment to pursuing both fiscal soundness and the protection of recipients. Its results are expected to serve as an indicator of how accurate and attentive local welfare administration is.
[ Reporter Kim Mi-hee: incheonsouth@thekoreantoday.com ]
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