Basic Income for Rural and Fishing Communities Worth 150,000 Won to Be Paid on the 27th to 35,000 Yeoncheon County Residents

A basic income for rural residents worth 150,000 won will be paid to some 35,000 residents of Yeoncheon County in Gyeonggi Province.

The Gyeonggi Provincial Government announced on the 26th that the first basic income payment will be made on the 27th to Yeoncheon County, which has been selected as a pilot site for the government-led basic income program for rural and fishing communities. The benefit will be provided to 35,227 people in the form of local gift certificates worth 150,000 won.

The basic income for rural and fishing communities is a national policy that has evolved from the rural basic income program the Gyeonggi Provincial Government has implemented since 2022, under which every resident of Cheongsan-myeon in Yeoncheon County received 150,000 won per month in local currency regardless of occupation or income. The eligible population has also been expanded from about 3,800 residents of Cheongsan-myeon to all residents of Yeoncheon County.

The core of the basic income program for rural and fishing communities is to improve the quality of life of residents in rural areas facing population decline and the risk of regional extinction, and to promote a virtuous local economic cycle by providing residents in the designated areas with local gift certificates worth 150,000 won every month.

Gyeonggi Provincial Government

To help the smooth and stable rollout of the government program, the Gyeonggi Provincial Government is uniquely providing Yeoncheon County with 714 million won in operating expenses nationwide, which covers 50% of the total and includes labor costs for verifying actual residency and system construction costs for application, reception, and payment, as well as other program-wide operating expenses.

In addition, to ensure that the benefits of the policy reach even marginalized areas with few places to shop, the province will also push ahead in parallel with the "Happiness Delivery Communication Truck Operation" project.

This project, in connection with participating organizations within the region, will purchase on behalf of residents the items they need and will also provide health and psychological counseling.

The Gyeonggi Provincial Government plans to designate Yeoncheon County as a priority area in order to provide residents with one-stop services.

Lee Moonmu, Head of the Agricultural Policy Division at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government, said, "Now that Gyeonggi Province's social experiment has become the national standard, we will spare no administrative and financial support until the government program is firmly established," adding, "We will do our best to ensure that the basic income for rural and fishing communities serves as a priming water for guaranteeing basic rights in rural areas and achieving balanced regional development."