Most foreigners excluded from Korea’s oil-price relief payouts

South Korea will begin distributing relief payments Monday to about 70 percent of the population as fuel and consumer prices rise amid the Middle East conflict, but most foreign residents will again be excluded despite earlier criticism from the country’s human rights watchdog.

The payments, which range from 100,000 won to 600,000 won ($68 to $405), will first be made available Monday to vulnerable groups, with a separate application period for the broader public set to begin May 18.

Recipients of basic livelihood security benefits will receive 550,000 won, while single-parent households and those classified as near poor will receive 450,000 won.

An additional 50,000 won will be given to people living outside the greater Seoul metropolitan area or in areas facing population decline.

For the remaining 70 percent of those eligible, the amount will vary by region: 100,000 won for residents of the greater Seoul metropolitan area, 150,000 won for those outside the capital region, 200,000 won for residents of preferential support areas within depopulation zones, and 250,000 won for those in shrinking regions.

Most foreign residents are not eligible for the payments.

“Foreigners are, in principle, excluded because the policy is designed to ease the burden on Korean citizens from rising oil and consumer prices,” the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said. “However, they may be included in some exceptional cases.”

The ministry said foreign residents could qualify if they are listed on a resident registration record that includes at least one Korean national.

Foreign-only households may also qualify if the recipient is a permanent resident, married to a Korean or a recognized refugee, including F-5, F-6 and F-2-4 visa holders.

In all such cases, claimants must also be enrolled in the National Health Insurance system, registered as dependents or receiving medical aid.

Korean nationals who were staying overseas but returned to the country between March 30 and July 17 may also receive the payment by filing an objection by July 17.

This is not the first time foreign residents have been largely excluded from government subsidy programs.

In 2025, the government distributed consumption coupons worth up to 550,000 won as part of efforts to stimulate domestic spending.

That program also excluded most foreign nationals, except for certain groups such as permanent residents, marriage migrants and recognized refugees.

Migrant rights groups filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea in July 2025, and the commission upheld the complaint in March. It recommended that the Interior, Health and Finance ministries expand the scope of eligibility for foreign recipients.

The commission warned that excluding foreigners from economic stimulus policies could undermine social equality and integration.

On Monday, 32 migrant groups again called on the government to broaden eligibility.

“The government has decided to distribute support packages to ease the burden on citizens from high oil prices and exchange rate volatility, but foreigners have in principle been excluded,” they said in a joint statement.

The groups said that each time disaster-related support is distributed, eligibility is tied to inclusion on a resident registration record, resulting in the exclusion of migrant family members who are not listed on that document.

They said foreign single mothers raising children of Korean nationality outside marriage, ethnic Koreans with foreign nationality who live in Korea without forming a formal family relationship with a Korean national, migrant workers and international students are all effectively barred from applying.

“The discriminatory policy of using migrants only when needed and excluding them from support runs counter to the task of building a society of coexistence,” the groups said, calling for support policies that do not discriminate between Korean and foreign residents.

seungku99@heraldcorp.com