[Deputy Director Column] Incheon's Dilemma: 'Disaster Emergency Living Expenses'

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Local governments nationwide are rushing to implement 'disaster emergency living expenses' support for residents whose livelihoods are threatened by the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). Although the support amounts and targets vary slightly by local government, they are aimed at households with median income between 85% and 100% or less, who fall into the blind spots of government support, and for households of four or more, an average of 500,000 to 700,000 KRW is provided.

It is expected to provide practical help to those who are immediately struggling to make a living, such as part-time workers, freelancers, and daily construction workers. Some local governments, like Hwaseong City in Gyeonggi Province, provide an average of 2 million KRW in emergency living expenses to small business owners whose sales have decreased by more than 10% compared to the previous year.

The required funds will first be covered by the disaster management fund, and any shortfall will be secured through supplementary budgets. Since the government has limited resources, it seems to be considering a plan where local governments use their funds to pay the disaster emergency living expenses first and get reimbursed later. However, local governments are complaining that the amounts of disaster funds they have secured vary and that they lack the financial capacity to prepare emergency living expenses. There is concern about regional inequality as some local governments receive emergency living expenses depending on their financial situation, while others do not.

Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, demands that the central government provide basic income, saying that even if the disaster fund is fully used, only 45,000 KRW per resident can be given. Park Won-soon, Mayor of Seoul, also pointed out that the central government's supplementary budget related to COVID-19 lacks support in the form of disaster basic income and announced that Seoul City will mobilize all available resources to support emergency living expenses.

Of course, some have a negative view of disaster basic income, which is paid equally to all citizens. Novelist Gong Ji-young wrote on her Facebook account, "It is not a situation where everyone suffers damage, but there are citizens who suffer economic damage depending on the characteristics of the infectious disease, so 'emergency living stabilization funds' is the correct term," adding, "We should not use the term basic income carelessly. It does not fit the situation, and no country has ever succeeded," criticizing the call for disaster basic income.

However, some local governments are cautious even about selective disaster emergency living expense support for those who have suffered economic damage. Incheon City stated that when paying emergency living expenses, it is necessary to examine whether COVID-19 victims can directly benefit, and that analysis of Incheon's consumption characteristics using data should be conducted first. This is interpreted as meaning that rather than blindly following other local governments, economic support measures that can continuously be effective even after the COVID-19 crisis are needed.

In this context, Incheon City is currently focusing on stimulating consumption and revitalizing the local economy by increasing the scale of emergency management stabilization funds for small business owners and SMEs, actively promoting the spread of the good rent movement in the private sector, and encouraging the use of the local currency 'Incheon e-eum Card.'

However, some citizens are demanding realistic policies necessary for people struggling to make a living, criticizing that while Seoul City and Gyeonggi Province have introduced 'disaster basic income' and 'disaster emergency living expenses' as COVID-19 support measures, Incheon City is only requesting an increase in national funds for local currency.

For daily wage workers who live day-to-day or self-employed people who have closed their shops, there is no immediate living expense, so policies encouraging the use of local currency that requires cash to recharge or supporting bank loans do not resonate with them. With online citizen petitions demanding living expense support continuing, it does not seem easy for Incheon City to maintain its policy alone.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.