Seoul Anshim Income International Forum to be Held on the 6th at DDP

Exploring New Welfare Systems with the Theme of Accompanying the Disabled
Experts on Income Security Experiments from Germany, USA, and Finland Participate
Mayor Oh Se-hoon Also Joins as a Discussant to Engage with Experts

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is making an announcement about the 'Seoul Basic Income Pilot Project' at the Seoul City Hall briefing room on the 22nd. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Seoul Metropolitan Government will hold the '2022 International Guaranteed Income Forum' on the 6th at Dongdaemun Design Plaza to address welfare blind spots and explore new income security policies.

This forum is the first international forum held since the launch of the 'Guaranteed Income Pilot Project,' with experts leading income security experiments from various countries and world-renowned scholars participating. It will share policy experiments conducted not only in Seoul but also in the United States, Finland, Germany, and other countries, and exchange opinions on new income security policies.

Attendees include Professor J?rgen Schupp of the German Institute for Economic Research, the chief of the Berlin income experiment; Professor Heikki Hiilamo, who led Finland's basic income experiment; and Professor Robert A. Moffitt of Johns Hopkins University, a poverty research expert from the United States. Mayor Oh Se-hoon will also participate as a discussant to introduce the 'Guaranteed Income Pilot Project' and discuss future welfare solutions with researchers from various countries.

Guaranteed Income is a welfare policy with a progressive structure that provides more support to those with lower incomes. It improves the limitations of existing welfare systems, which have strict selection criteria such as income conversion of assets, support obligations, and proof of work ability, by lowering the support threshold.

The Guaranteed Income Pilot Project expands the target range to the bottom 33% income group to proactively support households in crisis. In July, 500 households with income below 50% of the median income were selected, and next year, an additional 1,100 households with income below 85% of the median income will be selected.

The forum will be held under the theme 'Exploring New Welfare Systems for Accompanying the Vulnerable,' consisting of two sessions and a special lecture. The first session, titled 'Experiments of New Welfare Systems in Various Countries,' will feature researchers leading income security policy experiments in Finland, the United States, and Germany presenting on the income security policy experiments conducted in their countries.

In the subsequent discussion, Mayor Oh Se-hoon will participate directly to discuss desirable future welfare models to address welfare blind spots with domestic and international experts. Following this, Professor Robert A. Moffitt of Johns Hopkins University, a poverty research expert, will deliver a special lecture on the 'Necessity of Income Security.'

The second session, titled 'Seoul Guaranteed Income,' will feature Professor Park Ki-sung of Sungshin Women's University presenting on the 'Cost and Economic Effects of Guaranteed Income,' and Kim Sang-chul, CEO of the Seoul Welfare Foundation, presenting the 'Baseline Survey Results of Guaranteed Income.' The discussion will be chaired by Professor Yoo Jong-sung of Gachon University, with panelists including Senior Researcher Oh Ho-young of the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training, Professor Jung Soon-dol of Ewha Womans University, and Professor Hong Kyung-joon of Sungkyunkwan University.

The forum will be broadcast live online on Seoul City's YouTube channel and the official website of the 2022 Seoul International Guaranteed Income Forum.