Pohang in North Gyeongsang Province and Seosan in South Chungcheong Province will remain employment crisis preemptive response areas for one more year. The judgment is that job insecurity in the regions has not eased because of the slump in the steel and petrochemical industries.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 11th deliberated and approved a plan to extend the designation period for the two regions at the seventh Employment Policy Council meeting of 2026. The expiration date will be pushed back from Nov. 20, 2026 to Nov. 20, 2027.
The system is a mechanism that designates and manages in advance regions showing signs of a rapid deterioration in employment conditions. It intervenes when signs of instability are detected, not after mass unemployment has materialized. It focuses on helping companies retain workers and stabilizing workers' livelihoods.
Pohang was first designated last November because of the steel slump, and Seosan because of the petrochemical slump. The government cited continuing difficulties in the two regions' main industries as the reason for the extension. It also judged that employment conditions had not improved.
With the extension, employers and workers in Pohang and Seosan will keep the preferential benefits they received under various government support programs.
A representative one is the employment retention subsidy. It is money given to employers who protect their workforce through temporary closures or leave instead of layoffs despite business difficulties. In ordinary regions, two-thirds to 90% of idle or leave allowances is covered. In preemptive response areas, a level of six-tenths to nine-tenths applies.
The burden of vocational training costs also falls. For workers receiving training through the National Tomorrow Learning Card, the co-payment rate drops from 15-55% in ordinary regions to 0-20%. The card's support limit over five years rises from 3 million won to 5 million won.
Employers can also receive the regional employment promotion subsidy. It targets employers who relocate, build or expand a workplace in a designated region and then hire local residents. Certain requirements must be met.
Financial support for workers is also widened. The repayment period for living stabilization fund loans is extended from a maximum of five years to a maximum of eight years. The limit on vocational training living expense loans rises from 20 million won to 30 million won. The loan ceiling for living expenses for workers with unpaid wages rises from 10 million won to 15 million won.
Of course, being in a designated region does not mean every employer and worker automatically receives support. Benefits go only to those who clear the eligibility and screening thresholds set for each program.
The government plans to continue its support while keeping watch on whether structural problems facing local industries spill over into job shocks.
Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon said, "As both the steel and petrochemical industries have recently been going through a difficult period, the related regions are also experiencing employment insecurity together. We will strengthen support so that this insecurity does not lead to an actual employment crisis, while closely monitoring local employment conditions and responding swiftly."