6 Out of 10 Gyeonggi Residents Support Introduction of Wealth-Proportional Fines

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] A survey shows that 6 out of 10 Gyeonggi residents support the introduction of a 'wealth-proportional fine system,' which differentially imposes fines in proportion to economic capacity such as assets and income.

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 14th that in a survey of 1,000 residents conducted on June 26, 60% of residents answered 'in favor' when asked about their support for introducing the wealth-proportional fine system. The 'opposition' rate was 37%.

When asked whether they had heard of the wealth-proportional fine system, 35% said yes and 65% said no.

Among the 353 respondents (35%) who said they had heard of the wealth-proportional fine system, 70% supported it.

When asked what they most looked forward to regarding implementation of the wealth-proportional fine system, residents prioritized 'realization of substantive fairness based on economic capacity (32%)'.
This was followed by 'reduction in law violations by the wealthy (23%)' and 'reduction in unpaid fines and detention in labor facilities among the economically disadvantaged (15%)'.

Meanwhile, regarding concerns about the wealth-proportional fine system, 'weakened deterrent effect due to reduced punishment for crimes committed by the economically disadvantaged (25%)' was most frequently cited.

This was followed by concerns such as 'increased concealment of income and assets (22%)' and 'reverse discrimination due to differentiated fines for identical crimes (20%)'.

In this survey, 78% of residents responded that 'fair law enforcement regardless of wealth, power, and status is not being carried out in our society'.

Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung mentioned on April 25 through social media services (SNS): "Even when the same crime results in a fine, the wealthy do not bear a heavy burden, reducing the effectiveness of punishment, and it cannot help but be more harsh for the poor." He brought up the introduction of the 'wealth-proportional fine system' for substantive fairness in punishment.

The survey was commissioned by Gyeonggi Province to K-Stat Research Co., Ltd., and was conducted via telephone on June 26 with 1,000 residents aged 18 and over.

Confidence level 95%, sampling error ±3.1%p.