Gangneung to Pay KRW 100,000 in Livelihood Stabilization Aid to Each Resident by Year-End

【Financial News Gangneung=Kim Ki-seop】The livelihood stabilization payment for all citizens, pursued by Gangneung Mayor Kim Jung-nam as his first official approval after taking office, will be paid to each resident in the amount of KRW 100,000 as early as November after overcoming an initial rejection and securing both the necessary ordinance and budget.
According to Gangneung City on the 23rd, Gangneung City Council passed an amended ordinance on Gangneung's livelihood stabilization payments during the third plenary meeting of the first regular session of its 332nd session the previous day. The measure establishes a legal basis for the city to provide payments when rapidly changing social and economic conditions, such as disasters, high prices, high interest rates or an economic downturn, make life difficult for residents.
The ordinance was rejected once in a vote at the second plenary meeting of the 331st extraordinary session on July 31, with nine votes in favor and 10 against. At the time, council members affiliated with the People Power Party issued a statement saying they understood the purpose of the payments but could not accept the execution of a large amount of taxpayer money while the criteria and procedures remained unclear. All of them voted against the ordinance.
After consulting with the council, the city resubmitted the revised ordinance as an urgent agenda item during the September regular session. During the Industry Committee's review, a provision was added requiring the mayor to notify the council without delay after establishing a payment plan. The Livelihood Stabilization Payment Deliberation Committee, which reviews whether payments should be made, as well as their timing, amount, criteria, scope and procedures, will have no more than nine members and will be chaired by the deputy mayor. The number of council-recommended members was also increased from one to three.
Funding has also been secured. The second supplementary budget approved at the plenary meeting includes KRW 21.2 billion for the payments, accounting for about 90% of the total KRW 23.7 billion increase. It also includes KRW 2.5 billion to cover the expanded cost of discounts on Gangneung Sarang gift certificates.
The city plans to retain its original proposal to pay KRW 100,000 via Gangneung Pay to each resident registered in Gangneung. It aims to complete the payments by the end of the year after finalizing the remaining procedures, including promulgating the ordinance, establishing the payment plan, obtaining the deliberation committee's review and securing the list of eligible recipients.
Gangneung Mayor Kim Jung-nam said, "As this was a promise I made to residents in my first official approval as mayor of the ninth popularly elected administration, I faithfully incorporated the council's recommendations into the ordinance, including the requirement to notify the council and the expansion of council-recommended members." He added, "We will expedite the deliberation and recipient-list procedures so that the KRW 100,000 reaches residents exhausted by high prices and the economic downturn via Gangneung Pay even one day sooner."

[email protected] Kim Ki-seop Reporter