Gyeonggi-do Expands 'Opportunity Income' from Artists and Disabled to Athletes and Farmers/Fishers

Gyeonggi Province will provide 'Opportunity Income' not only to artists and people with disabilities but also to athletes and farmers and fishermen.

Opportunity Income is a key project of Governor Kim Dong-yeon of Gyeonggi Province that compensates income for a certain period to those who create value in our society but do not receive fair compensation, providing them with more opportunities.

Gyeonggi Province will introduce 'Athlete Opportunity Income' around July.

To this end, Gyeonggi Province will finalize the project targets and scale after holding a public hearing next month with participating cities and counties, experts, academia, and athletes, and will start paying Opportunity Income as early as July.

Athlete Opportunity Income is a project that provides an annual payment of 1.5 million KRW in two installments to athletes aged 19 or older residing in the province who are registered professional athletes (active or retired) with the Korea Sports Council or the Korea Paralympic Committee Gyeonggi Province, whose personal income is below 120% of the median income.

Gyeonggi Province has allocated a total budget of 11.8 billion KRW, including 5.9 billion KRW from the provincial budget, for this project. It is expected that about 7,860 athletes in the province will benefit.

Earlier, since October last year, Gyeonggi Province held 14 seminars and meetings with athletes, sports organizations, and related parties to gather opinions and finalize the target recipients.

Lee Jong-don, Director of the Gyeonggi Province Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, emphasized, "Athlete Opportunity Income is aimed at revitalizing activities that create social value. In particular, it will be a good example of recognizing the social value of athletes who quietly work in basic and less popular sports."

Gyeonggi Provincial Government

Gyeonggi Province will also introduce 'Farmer and Fisherman Opportunity Income' as early as the fourth quarter of this year (October to December).

To promote the project, Gyeonggi Province held an 'Expert Forum on Introducing Farmer and Fisherman Opportunity Income in Gyeonggi Province' at the end of last month and will conduct a large-scale debate in April with cities and counties, agricultural and fishery-related organizations, and experts to promote public discussion on the policy.

Farmer and Fisherman Opportunity Income is a project that provides 150,000 KRW per month, totaling 1.8 million KRW annually, in local currency to about 17,700 people, including young farmers and fishermen under 50 years old, those who have returned to farming or fishing within the last five years, and environmentally certified farmers and fishermen such as those with certifications in eco-friendly farming, animal welfare, and premium fisheries.

This project was planned to recognize the value of young and returning farmers and fishermen who engage in agricultural and fishery activities amid rural aging, as well as environmentally conscious farmers who maintain the public functions of agriculture. However, those already receiving the existing Farmer and Rural Basic Income cannot receive the Farmer and Fisherman Opportunity Income.

Gong Jeong-sik, Director of the Gyeonggi Province Agriculture, Fisheries and Life Sciences Bureau, promised, "To successfully implement Farmer and Fisherman Opportunity Income, we will continue to create communication channels to listen to the opinions of farmers, fishermen, and experts and carefully adjust the policy details."

Earlier, at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, Gyeonggi Province introduced Opportunity Income for artists and people with disabilities.

Artist Opportunity Income is a project that provides an annual payment of 1.5 million KRW in two installments to artists residing in Gyeonggi Province who have valid proof of artistic activity and whose personal income is below 120% of the median income (2,493,470 KRW per month).

Disability Opportunity Income selects 10,000 people with 'severe disabilities,' distributes smartwatches, and compensates them for engaging in activities of at least one hour twice a week.