According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS), around 98.6% of South Korean households who qualified for disaster relief have received their basic disaster allowances designed to help curb the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of payments were transferred electronically to people’s credit and check cards in the form of local currency that could only be used within their respective area of residence. As applications for the allowances began on May 4, the majority of South Koreans eligible for relief received their payments within a month. (Kim Hye-yun, staff photographer)