183,000 Tons of Holiday Essentials Like Apples and Beef to Be Released... 100 Billion Won Allocated for Discounts Up to 50%

Ministry of Economy and Finance Announces Chuseok Livelihood Stabilization Plan on September 1

Ahead of the Chuseok holiday, the government will supply more than 180,000 tons of key holiday food items—including apples, pears, and beef, in the largest volume ever—to ease the rising cost of living. In addition, a record-high support fund totaling 103 billion won will be provided, enabling discounts of up to 40% on agricultural and livestock products and up to 50% on seafood.

Yonhap News Agency

On September 1, the government announced the "Chuseok Livelihood Stabilization Measures" at a cabinet meeting. The measures focus on four areas: stabilizing the prices of essential holiday goods, reducing the burden on households, boosting domestic demand, and ensuring public safety. To relieve grocery costs, the government will maximize supply of holiday essentials, releasing 183,000 tons—1.6 times the regular level and the largest release to date—to meet peak demand during the holiday. By category, the supply of vegetables such as cabbage and radish will reach 18,000 tons, which is 1.9 times the usual amount. Fruit such as apples and pears will see an over three-fold increase, reaching 32,000 tons. Shipments of livestock products—including 90,000 tons of beef and pork and 17,000 tons of chicken—will rise by 1.3 times, while the highly volatile price of eggs will be stabilized by increasing supply to 2.4 times the normal level. For six popular fish species such as mackerel and pollack, the government will release 20,000 tons from its reserves at prices up to 40% lower than market rates. In addition, forest products like chestnuts and jujubes will be supplied at nine times the usual level (2,480 tons) by leveraging the forestry cooperatives.

Large-scale discount programs are also planned. From September 3, the government will collaborate with online and offline retailers to offer discounts of up to 40% on major agricultural and livestock products such as apples, pears, and beef. Starting September 9, the discount will expand to seafood—including pollack, mackerel, and dried laver—with discounts as high as 50%. From September 16 to 20, right before the holiday, a cashback event at 600 traditional markets nationwide (300 for agricultural/livestock products and 300 for seafood) will offer approximately 30% in Onnuri gift certificates (up to 20,000 won) based on purchase amount. The government will also work with the food industry to provide up to 64% special discounts on over 4,700 processed food items such as ramen and bread.

The social safety net—including financial support for low-income households, vulnerable groups, and small business owners—will be stronger than ever. Policy-finance products for the disadvantaged, such as the "Sunshine Loan" for low-income, vulnerable, and young people, will be expanded to 480 billion won, over four times higher than a year earlier. The interest rate on loans to settle overdue wages for workers will be temporarily reduced by 0.5 to 1.0 percentage points until October 31. In addition, small business owners and SMEs facing liquidity crises will have access to a record 43.4 trillion won in holiday financing through loans and guarantees.

Digital Onnuri gift certificates, which usually come with a 7% discount rate, will be available at a 10% discount for five days immediately before Chuseok (September 16-20). The purchase limit will also be raised from 1 million won to 1.2 million won. To reduce travel expenses for those returning home, expressway tolls will be fully waived for the four-day holiday period (September 24-27), and KTX fares will be cut by 10%. To boost tourism outside of the capital region, the government will distribute more than 80,000 accommodation coupons and will waive entrance fees during the holiday period at major cultural sites—such as the four royal palaces, Jongmyo, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, and national recreation forests—enabling people to enjoy a bountiful holiday season without added financial burden.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.