Local Governments Respond to Lee Jae-myung's Basic Income Institutionalization Initiative

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park Nohun] After Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung sent letters to all 190 local governments nationwide requesting participation in the Basic Income Local Government Council, 21 local governments have expressed their intention to newly participate.

According to Gyeonggi Province on the 25th, as of the 23rd, a total of 74 local governments have confirmed their participation in the Basic Income Local Government Council, up 21 from 53 as of the 6th when Governor Lee sent a cooperation letter to local governments, bringing the nationwide initiative one step closer.

The newly participating local governments include ▲Dobong-gu, Seodaemun-gu, and Mapo-gu in Seoul ▲Busanjin-gu in Busan ▲Ongjin County in Incheon ▲Dong-gu, Nam-gu, Seo-gu, and Buk-gu in Gwangju ▲Yuseong-gu in Daejeon ▲Jung-gu and Buk-gu in Ulsan ▲Jeongseon County and Goseong County in Gangwon Province ▲Jecheon City, Okcheon County, and Goesan County in North Chungcheong ▲Gongju City in South Chungcheong ▲Jeonju City and Iksan City in North Jeolla ▲Suncheon City in South Jeolla, and others. The province stated it is currently awaiting responses from the Daegu and North Gyeongsan regions as well as Jeju Province.

Governor Lee previously stated on the 6th, "The Basic Income Local Government Council is an effort by local governments that share the need for basic income policies to work together to make basic income policies more widely popularized and, furthermore, institutionalized legally," and added, "Basic income policies are difficult to sustain continuously with only the efforts of local governments due to funding issues. Efforts for joint response, including legislative activities, are necessary to attract various forms of support from the central government on the basis of legal institutionalization."

The Basic Income Local Government Council is a consultative body formed by local governments that empathize with the necessity of basic income and share the vision, first proposed by Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung at the 40th Conference of Korean Metropolitan and Provincial Governors in October 2018.

Subsequently, Gyeonggi Province recruited local governments willing to participate, and 36 local governments held a joint declaration of launch at the 1st Korea Basic Income Expo held in April 2019.

The following year in September 2020, an official founding ceremony for the Basic Income Local Government Council was held with 48 local governments participating, and in February this year, the council finalized its operational bylaws.

The Basic Income Local Government Council plans to hold its founding general meeting at the opening ceremony of the "2021 Korea Basic Income Expo" to be held at KINTEX Hall 1 on the 28th, with 74 participating local governments working together for joint response toward the popularization and legal institutionalization of basic income policies.