Low-income jobseekers in South Korea will be able to receive 500-thousand won a month in unemployment benefits for up to six months from next year. 

South Korea's Presidential Commission on Job Creation announced the plan on Tuesday.

Under the plan, 350-thousand people will receive the allowances in the second half of next year. The government intends to expand the number of annual beneficiaries to 600-thousand by 2022. 

Providing unemployment benefits has been one of the Moon Jae-in administration’s major initiatives to enhance the country's social safety net. The government expects unemployment benefits will increase job security by creating synergy with the government’s employment insurance and job creation projects. 

Small business owners who went bankrupt, young jobseekers and middle-aged women who had to leave work to take care of their children are among those eligible to apply for the new unemployment benefits.