SEOUL -- South Korea has managed to distribute 90% of a cash handout program in just two weeks, showcasing the effectiveness of its resident registration number system.
The COVID-19 emergency relief funds, which began distribution on Sept. 6, provide 250,000 won (US$212) per recipient.
The speed with which Seoul has managed to deliver the money to its citizens is roughly five times faster than what it took Japan to distribute its across-the-board 100,000 yen (US$903) per-person handouts in May 2020.
While some have noted the privacy concerns of concentrating so much personal information in the government's hands, the utility of the system seems to have won more backers than dissenters among the public.
While the previous handout in May last year was an across-the board program, this time the top 12% of the income bracket was excluded.
A person in Seoul uses credit card points distributed by the government as part of a COVID-19 relief fund. (Photo by Sotaro Suzuki) People can confirm their eligibility through websites and apps of credit card companies or the National Health Insurance Service. They can also apply to receive the funds online.
The fact that the government could deliver the funds quickly -- despite the change in the range of the handouts -- is tied to the resident registration number system. Information for tax, insurance and residence are connected in the government system.
As was the case last year, the government teamed up with credit card companies for the delivery, offering points to people who applied for the handouts.
The points need to be used by the end of December, thus preventing citizens from keeping the money in savings.
South Korea's internet infrastructure has proved effective in the government's measures to control COVID-19 as well. By connecting the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the police, the credit finance association, mobile phone carriers and credit card companies, contact tracing people who have tested positive has been reduced to within 10 minutes, as opposed to the whole day it used to take.
At the outset of the pandemic, the country established a system to prevent face-mask hoarding in just three days by monitoring people who were repeatedly buying up masks.
But there are risks to such a concentration of personal information. Once a registration number is leaked, sensitive information such as income, assets and health records could potentially be accessed.
Opposition politician Ahn Cheol-soo has criticized the government's COVID-19 response, saying it was only made possible at the expense of the perseverance and pain of the people and amounted to a blatant invasion of privacy.