The 'Basic Income' Tangled with the Race for the Presidency

Lee Nak-yeon, Jeong Se-gyun, Lee Jae-myung, and Other Key Figures
Debate Intensifies
Party Atmosphere Is "Cautious"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] Alongside the controversy over the 4th disaster relief fund and the loss compensation system, another hot topic heating up the political sphere is basic income. Regarding this agenda, presidential candidates within the ruling party are presenting different opinions, with the core issue being fiscal policy. Coupled with each individual's welfare philosophy and presidential ambitions, consensus in one direction is hardly being reached. This confusion and conflict are likely to persist until next year's presidential election.

Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 5th and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

The internal sentiment within the party toward the basic income debate among key figures such as Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, and Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, can be summarized as "it is still cautious to discuss implementation." On the 9th, Yang Hyang-ja, Supreme Council member, appeared on KBS Kim Kyung-rae's Strong Current program and said, "Discussion is necessary. However, implementation should be discussed cautiously." She added, "I have doubts about whether the basic income discussion has matured enough," and "It must be clearly understood whether the policy is fiscally sustainable."

The day before, Park Kwang-on, Secretary-General of the Democratic Party, criticized Governor Lee’s basic income theory while supporting Lee Nak-yeon’s proposed ‘National Life 2030.’ He pointed out, "Income security is necessary for basic livelihood but is not a sufficient condition for better life opportunities. Universalism is not uniform egalitarianism that provides the same amount and services to all citizens." Former Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Jeong Un-hyun and Assemblyman Lim Jong-seok, who assisted Lee Nak-yeon during his time as Prime Minister, also directly criticized Governor Lee’s basic income proposal.

This atmosphere appears to be part of the process of establishing a party stance on basic income within the Democratic Party, but the debate has already gone beyond the party’s boundaries. The Basic Income Party, which has made basic income its agenda, aligned with Governor Lee’s opinion by targeting Lee Nak-yeon and Prime Minister Chung, saying, "Those who are drawing attention as presidential candidates have a severely lacking imagination."

Governor Lee continues to bring basic income into the political agenda. It seems he judges that the more heated the basic income controversy becomes, the greater his presence grows. On the 7th, he targeted Lee Nak-yeon, saying, "We must abandon the inferiority complex of subservience that asks whether we can dare to do something just because other countries do not." The next day, he said, "Stagnant water inevitably rots, and competition is necessary in policy as well." This was a rebuttal to Lee Nak-yeon’s statement on the 2nd that "Except for Alaska, no place implements basic income, and it cannot replace existing welfare systems." Prime Minister Chung also criticized Governor Lee’s basic income philosophy in a foreign media interview on the 4th, saying, "There is no country on earth that has successfully operated it."

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