President Lee visits his mother’s “hometown” in North Gyeongsang Province: “I’m convinced of the impact of basic income for rural and fishing communities”

[Financial News] President Lee Jae-myung visited his mother's hometown in North Gyeongsang Province on the 31st and said, “I am personally convinced” of the impact of basic income for rural and fishing communities on balanced development and preventing rural communities from disappearing.
According to Blue House spokesperson Kim Seong-wan, President Lee visited Cheongsong County and Yeongyang County, pilot areas for basic income for rural and fishing communities, that day, toured commercial districts and a mobile market, and met with residents.
In Yeongyang County, President Lee said that basic income lacked stability because of political controversy, adding, “A major challenge is to secure stability through effective operation.” At a luncheon with residents of Cheongsong County, he said, “I will pay more attention to funding so that basic income can be implemented more stably.”
On restrictions on where the funds can be spent, he stressed the need to encourage local spending, saying, “People need to spend it in the neighborhoods where they live to prevent spending from being concentrated in the town center.” He also proposed using shared revenues from renewable energy projects, such as wind and solar power, to fund basic income.
The Blue House explained that the two counties supplement the payments with their own funds and provide each resident with 200,000 won a month in local gift certificates, and that their populations have each grown by at least 5% since they were selected as pilot areas.
President Lee said that Yeongyang was his mother’s hometown, adding, “I had this dream that if basic income for rural and fishing communities became just a little more stable and grew somewhat in scale, all of South Korea might become a place where people can live.”
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