Lee Jae-myung on Basic Income Pledge: "Just 80,000 Won Pocket Change? For Someone, It's Lifeline"

Lee Jae-myung, Gyeonggi Province Governor and Democratic Party presidential primary candidate.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seoyoung Kwon] Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential primary candidate and governor of Gyeonggi Province, described the payment of basic income, one of his policy pledges, as "a lifeline."

On the 23rd, Lee posted an article titled "Representative Lee Jun-seok, Basic Income is Public Transfer Income" on his Facebook. In the post, he responded to the People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok's question, "Is basic income labor income?" by saying, "Of course, it is not labor income. This is called transfer income. Since it is paid to the people with taxes paid by the people, it is public transfer income."

Lee pointed out, "Are you suggesting that if we pay taxes and then get them back like candidate Yoon Seok-youl, we should not pay taxes at all?" He added, "In general, in advanced or welfare states, the proportion of public transfer income in the total income of individuals is high," and "Our country has an extremely low proportion of public transfer income. Welfare expenditure is only about 60% of the OECD average."

He continued, emphasizing, "In a sovereign nation, the government represents the sovereign people. The source of all government funds is the taxes paid by the people," and reiterated, "We want to use the taxes paid by the people to alleviate income polarization, redistribute wealth, and revive the economy." He explained, "People with higher incomes pay more taxes, and if all citizens receive and use this fairly, it itself becomes economic circulation."

Lee explained, "Some say the basic income pledge is only about 80,000 won per person per month," adding, "For a family of four, that is 320,000 won, and over a year, about 4 million won." He concluded by saying, "For those who say it's just 80,000 won, it may seem like pocket change, but I want to say that for the 'Songpa three mothers' or the 'COVID Jean Valjean,' it becomes a lifeline."