Support for job retention and vocational training will continue through next August.
The government has extended preemptive employment crisis support for Yeosu, which is struggling with a petrochemical industry downturn, by one year, and newly designated Dangjin in South Chungcheong Province — where steel-sector employment has been declining — under the same program.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor convened its sixth employment policy deliberation council of 2026 on Thursday, chaired by Minister Kim Young-hoon, and approved the designation of Yeosu and Dangjin as areas subject to the preemptive employment crisis response program.
Under the designation, Yeosu residents will benefit from expanded support across several areas: the vocational training credit limit under the Tomorrow Learning Card rises from 3 million won ($2,140) to 5 million won; the livelihood stabilization loan ceiling increases from 20 million won to 25 million won; emergency living-cost loans for workers with unpaid wages go from 10 million won to 15 million won; vocational training living-cost loans double from 10 million won to 20 million won; and income requirements for the National Employment Support Program II are waived entirely, replacing the previous threshold of 100 percent of median income.
Businesses in the designated areas will also receive enhanced support: the employment retention subsidy rises from 66.7 percent to 80 percent of furlough pay, capped at 68,000 won per person per day; employer-funded vocational training support increases from 100 percent to 130 percent of employment stability and skills development insurance premiums paid; and deadlines for corporate tax, income tax, value-added tax, and employment and industrial accident insurance premiums will be extended.
The preemptive employment crisis response program now covers eight areas nationwide: Yeosu and Gwangyang in South Jeolla Province, Gwangsan-gu in Gwangju, Pohang in North Gyeongsang Province, Seosan and Dangjin in South Chungcheong Province, Nam-gu in Ulsan, and Jeomulpo-gu in Incheon.
An official from the South Jeolla-Gwangju integrated special city said the moment calls for an active response to employment stability in the petrochemical sector, the region's core industry, and pledged to focus administrative resources on developing concrete employment measures grounded in the preemptive crisis response designation.
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