[Exclusive] First Basic Income Bill's Funding from 'Data Usage Fees'... Proposal for Ruling and Opposition Meeting

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] Discussions on the introduction of basic income in the political sphere are gaining momentum. This month, a basic income bill including funding measures is expected to be introduced for the first time, and bipartisan consultations are likely to take their first steps.

On the 5th, So Byung-hoon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated in a phone interview with Asia Economy, "We plan to form a Basic Income Committee consisting of about 30 members including government and private experts, and to establish a special basic income account separate from the general account, with a bill to be introduced within this month." Regarding the funding for basic income, So said, "We are refining a concept based on shared assets," adding, "One representative method could be utilizing data usage fees."

In February, So co-hosted the 'Gyeonggi-do Data Dividend National Assembly Forum' with other Democratic Party lawmakers. At that event, Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, announced the implementation of a 'data dividend' that returns profits generated from local currency data transactions to local currency users. The concept is that when companies generate profits, a portion of those profits should be returned to consumers who contributed to data production. Data is often called the "rice of the 4th Industrial Revolution," and the related industry scale is expected to grow rapidly.

So is also preparing a basic income research group composed of about 10 lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties. Lee Won-wook, another Democratic Party lawmaker, has also rolled up his sleeves for basic income discussions. On the 4th, Lee proposed on Facebook, "If it is not populism aimed at gaining votes or increasing party support, let's create a 'Bipartisan Basic Income Promotion Committee' to discuss the introduction of basic income." This would be a basic income version of the permanent bipartisan consultative body. He emphasized, "The committee should prepare a roadmap for the introduction of basic income and the ruling and opposition parties should come together to resolve the social conflicts that may arise."

The Basic Income Party plans to propose a meeting for bipartisan basic income discussions. Yong Hye-in, a Basic Income Party lawmaker, said, "Around this weekend, I plan to propose a meeting to the floor leaders of ruling and opposition parties for basic income discussions next week," adding, "It will be an opportunity to explain the necessity and measures for introducing basic income and to share each party's positions and thoughts." Yong is also planning a bill to establish a Basic Income Public Deliberation Committee, believing that sufficient social consultation is necessary given the national significance of the issue.

As Kim Jong-in, Emergency Committee Chairman of the United Future Party, ignited discussions on basic income, various opinions have poured out in the political sphere. The key issue is funding, with some ruling party lawmakers raising the need for tax increases. Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Won-wook said, "We can consider opinions such as establishing new highest tax brackets for corporate and income taxes, abolishing tax-exempt income and tax-exempt business sectors, and raising value-added tax for universal tax increases. Basic income without tax increases is impossible."

Governor Lee Jae-myung and Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Du-kwan have proposed land holding tax, carbon tax, and robot tax. Meanwhile, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Boo-kyum mentioned on Facebook the day before, "There is not only a progressive version of basic income but also a conservative version. The idea is to reduce existing welfare and shrink the state, then support basic income with those funds, and have social security services purchased from the market," adding, "We must not allow discussions to be misguided by such conservative concepts."