A sign above the entrance to a supermarket in Yeoncheon-gun County, Gyeonggi-do Province, reads, "The full rural basic income of KRW 150,000 can be used at this supermarket." (Aisylu Akhmetzianova)
By Aisylu Akhmetzianova
"The full rural basic income of KRW 150,000 can be used at this supermarket."
This sentence displayed on March 17 above the entrance to a supermarket in Yeoncheon-gun County, Gyeonggi-do Province, grabbed the attention of shoppers carrying baskets.
This pilot subsidy program took effect from February in 10 counties including Yeoncheon-gun, and is now part of life in the county.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has officially launched a policy for the economic revival of regions facing depopulation. To run through 2027, the program allocates a basic monthly allowance of KRW 150,000 through a currency voucher to residents.
As a practical form of daily life support, this benefit is exclusively for the residents of the 10 counties.
The target areas were selected through a public contest. Anyone can receive the benefit regardless of age if they have lived in a designated region for at least 30 days after the application date. The voucher is usable only at participating stores in regions where holders live.
Expats are also eligible for this benefit if they meet certain requirements. They must be on a family register that includes at least one Korean national, hold the same eligibility for health insurance as citizens or have the permanent resident (F-5), marriage immigrant (F-6) or recognized refugee (F-2-4) visa as well as have health or medical insurance coverage.
Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mi-ryung on March 26 speaks through a microphone at a ceremony for the allocation of rural basic income in Jangsu-gun County, Jeollabuk-do Province. (Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs)
Yeoncheon-gun said 36,825 people applied for the program as of late February, with 35,205 of them -- or 82.8% of the county's registered population of 42,521 -- receiving the benefit. Other eligible recipients such as new residents can get the subsidy from next month after a review period.
The ministry said it hoped the voucher stimulates consumption in target regions by breathing new life into commercial districts and boosting the sales of small-scale entrepreneurs there.
A county's website or currency app can be used to check which stores accept the subsidy.
The program, however, has also faced challenges. Complaints have surfaced over restrictions like the inability of residents of a myeon (township) to use the voucher at participating stores in an eup (town), where consumption is more active.
"Local governments are also continuously requesting improvements to the system," said Kim Jin Gyu, Yeoncheon-gu's planning and audit officer. "We will support youth entrepreneurship and job creation, especially in rural areas with few commercial establishments, and expand the environment for use through the attraction of new business types."
The ministry's response has been swift. On March 25, it held the first meeting on a task force for the program to share feedback from the field and proposed improvement methods with local governments.
It also pledged to continuously tackle the problems of not enough places that accept the voucher and inconvenience of use, as well as reinforce verification of residence to prevent fraud.
aisylu@korea.kr
