Interior ministry expands free appliance repairs to declared social disasters

South Korea's interior ministry said Monday it will widen a free appliance repair program run with Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics to cover victims of major social disasters, not only natural ones, as climate change brings more complex and frequent emergencies to the country.

The revision, to be signed with the two appliance makers on Tuesday, extends the program to households in areas declared special disaster zones after large fires, wildfires or explosions. The original agreement, first signed in July 2021, applied only to natural disasters such as typhoons and heavy rain.

Under the expanded terms, repairs will target flooded appliances after natural disasters and appliances that were destroyed or heat-deformed by fire or wildfire in social disasters. Mobile phones and other devices, which residents rely on for their livelihoods and for communication during an emergency, will be checked and cleaned first.

For all appliances, the program covers 100 percent of the cost of sending a technician and of labor when core parts such as motors and circuit boards are replaced, and it also offers discounts on the parts themselves.

Residents can use the service at on-site joint repair team booths set up at the request of local governments and the interior ministry, or arrange a home visit by a separate repair team for large appliances that are difficult to bring to a booth.

Kim Kwang-yong, head of the ministry's disaster and safety management headquarters, said the growing complexity of disasters drove the decision. "As disaster patterns have recently become more complex, various forms of social disasters such as large wildfires and fires are occurring frequently, not just natural disasters," Kim said.

"Building on the existing cooperation framework in the appliance sector, we will continue to broaden the scope of support in more diverse ways so that disaster victims can feel the government's practical help," he said.