Governor Lee’s Basic Income Experiment in Rural Areas Takes First Step

Gyeonggi Province to launch rural basic income social experiment this year

With the basic income initiative proposed by Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jaemyung emerging as a leading topic in Korean politics, Gyeonggi Province will undertake a social experiment in basic income, the first of its kind in Korea. Through this experiment, Gyeonggi Province seeks to examine how the lives of residents are affected and plans to utilize the empirical data gathered for the introduction of basic income in the future.

On March 4, Gyeonggi Province announced legislation for the Enactment of the Ordinance on the Rural Basic Income Social Experiment and began preparations to proceed with the project.

Rural Basic Income is a social experiment in which all rural residents of a given area receive the same regular payment (in local currency) for the enhancement of economic freedom and happiness regardless of their income levels, assets or employment status. In this regard, it is a trial demonstration of basic income implementation prior to national level expansion.

Explaining the reasoning for the launch of the basic income social experiment in rural areas, a Gyeonggi provincial official said, “Rural communities, facing the risks of shrinking and aging populations, need to ensure sustainability as future food sources and induce economic revitalization.” The official continued, “We believe that this community-level rural basic income social experiment will provide an opportunity to form a national consensus on basic income, advancing it to the national level.”

The aforementioned ordinance defines Rural Basic Income as basic income payments to rural community residents in the province and stipulates that plans should be established for social experiment goals, budgets, and methods of selecting targeted areas. It also includes mechanisms for determining the payment amount, evaluating policy effectiveness, establishing a social experiment support system, and cancelling payment, as well as grounds for unfair payment
recovery.

In addition, marriage immigrants, foreign permanent residents, and foreign workers will be included among the rural basic income recipients. Comparative residents who do not receive rural basic income during the experiment will also be selected, but only for performance assessment purposes according to evaluation indicators.

Gyeonggi Province has secured the budget of KRW 2.7 billion required for the Rural Basic Income Social Experiment through the enactment of the ordinance and has also engaged in advance consultations with related organizations including the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jaemyung said, “We will pursue consultations with the Ministry of Health and Welfare on social security systems in line with the enactment of the ordinance, and will do our utmost to prepare for experiment area selection and basic income payment by the second half of this year.”