Jeong Younggyun of Jeonnam Provincial Council: "Consumer Coupon Disparity Arises Due to Administrative Districts"
Points Out Policy Imbalance... Calls for Practical Response Before Second Distribution
There have been criticisms that the government’s consumer coupon program, which is being distributed as a key measure for the recovery of the people's livelihood and economy, has in fact become a source of discrimination in the Jeonnam region.
Jeong Younggyun, a member of the Jeollanam-do Provincial Council (Democratic Party of Korea, Suncheon 1), stated during the review of the 2025 2nd supplementary budget for the Planning and Coordination Office held on July 28, "Rural areas in urban-rural composite regions are excluded from the list of population-declining areas, and as a result, are being discriminated against in the amount of consumer coupons distributed for livelihood recovery." He urged for institutional reform and a response at the Jeollanam-do provincial level.
The government has recently begun the first round of livelihood recovery consumer coupon distribution to boost the economy. Each citizen receives a basic amount of 150,000 won, with an additional 30,000 won for regions outside the Seoul metropolitan area, and an extra 20,000 won for rural areas (84 cities and counties) designated as population-declining regions. In the case of Jeonnam, residents of county-level population-declining areas can receive up to 200,000 won.
Jeong pointed out, "In city regions with an urban-rural composite structure like Suncheon, rural areas are suffering from severe population decline and aging. However, simply because their administrative district is classified as a 'city,' they are excluded from the list of population-declining areas and receive only 180,000 won." He emphasized, "It is a clear policy imbalance that there is a 20,000 won per person gap between rural areas just due to differences in administrative district classification."
Furthermore, Jeong stated, "I understand that Jeonnam Province is aware of this issue and is currently requesting institutional reform from the central government. However, in case it is difficult for the central government to address this, a practical response at the provincial level is needed before the second round of distribution scheduled for September." He suggested, "If it is difficult to cover the full amount with provincial funds, sharing the financial burden with cities and counties should also be actively considered."
In response, Yoon Jin-ho, Director of Planning and Coordination at Jeonnam Province, said, "We sympathize with the issue of fairness for rural residents in urban-rural composite regions, and we are continuously requesting institutional reform and compensation measures from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety." He added, "Since it is not easy to get this reflected at the central government level, we will also review possible measures internally at the provincial level."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
