120 Manwon Senior Allowance Followed by Basic Income Discussion
Previously Proposed Annual 2 Million Won Youth Basic Income and Rural Basic Income
Ultimate Expansion to 'Nationwide' Basic Income
[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, pledged to provide an annual basic income of 1 million KRW to cultural and artistic workers. He is accelerating the puzzle of ‘universal basic income’ by consecutively announcing basic income pledges by age group and occupation. Judging that it is difficult to implement basic income for the entire population at once, he plans to first implement partial basic income and ultimately expand it to all citizens. However, specific plans for securing funding have not yet been presented.
Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, is announcing his cultural and artistic pledges at a coat shop in Insadong, Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 20th. Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers.
On the 20th, at a ‘Cultural and Artistic Policy Pledge’ event held at a court in Insadong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, candidate Lee promised to create 500,000 jobs and produce more than 10 unicorn cultural companies by expanding public and private investment, loans, and guarantees in the content industry such as literature, art, and games to a scale of over 50 trillion KRW over five years.
Regarding this, Lee said, "We will provide an annual basic income of 1 million KRW to cultural and artistic workers and expand the supply of public rental housing." The necessary funds will be secured by increasing the proportion of the cultural budget. He stated, "We will significantly expand the cultural budget share in the national finances to 2.5%, more than double the current level." However, he did not mention how the expanded budget would be secured.
The day before, candidate Lee also promised to provide a senior allowance of 1.2 million KRW annually from age 60 until public pensions begin. Since the National Pension is paid between ages 61 and 65 depending on birth year, and the Basic Pension starts at age 65, this is intended to fill the income gap until receiving public pensions.
Through successive basic income pledges, candidate Lee plans to ultimately complete a basic income system that provides 2 million KRW annually to youth during his term and 1 million KRW per person (4 million KRW for a family of four) to all other citizens. In the first announced youth basic income pledge, he promised to provide 2 million KRW per person by the end of his term, and on the 5th, he also announced the introduction of a ‘rural basic income.’
A Democratic Party campaign committee official said, "Due to budget constraints, it will start with partial basic income and expand gradually rather than implementing universal basic income immediately." He added, "Whether it will overlap with or be a union of (universal basic income) needs further discussion." Since he also stated that the scope of partial basic income recipients will continue to expand, it is expected that additional basic income pledges will be made in areas such as for the disabled in the future.
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