Naju Mayor Candidate Kang In-gyu: "Providing Farmer's Allowance to All Farmers in Naju Without Anyone Being Left Behind"

"Farmers' Allowance for All Farmers" Announcement of Pledge to Expand Public Benefit Allowance for Farmers and Fishermen

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yukbong] Kang In-gyu, the Democratic Party preliminary candidate for mayor of Naju City, has proposed a pledge to expand the eligibility for the payment of the public interest allowance for farmers and fishermen.

The main point is to pay the allowance, which is currently given on a farm (management unit) basis, to individual farmers.

Currently, Naju City pays a public interest allowance of 600,000 KRW annually to about 14,000 farms (management units).

The eligibility is limited to registered farm managers who have resided in Naju for more than one year and engaged in farming or fishing. The problem lies in the fact that the payment target is the "manager." Generally, the farm manager representing the farm is an adult male, so female farmers who are co-managers and young farmers who form the farm together do not receive the public interest allowance for farmers and fishermen.

It is also true that there was controversy over the criteria for eligibility when Jeollanam-do introduced the public interest allowance for farmers and fishermen in 2019.

At that time, farmers' organizations argued that since farmers who are not managers were excluded from the payment target, all farmers who actually farm, not just the farm, should be included.

However, Jeollanam-do set the payment target as the management unit, fearing a significant increase in payment scale and growing controversy over how to define farmers.

Kang In-gyu, the preliminary candidate for mayor of Naju, emphasized the importance of his pledge, saying, "Of course, increasing the payment amount is important, but even if the amount is increased, it is like a pie in the sky for farmers who do not receive it. It is more appropriate to pay all farmers in line with the original purpose of the public interest allowance for farmers and fishermen." He also said, "We will strive to establish a sustainable plan through future consultations with Jeollanam-do and the cities and counties of Jeonnam regarding the increase of the public interest allowance for farmers and fishermen."

According to Kang In-gyu’s preliminary campaign headquarters, if the payment target for the public interest allowance for farmers and fishermen is expanded to all farmers, Naju City is expected to require an additional annual budget of about 4.1 billion KRW.

Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yukbong bong2910@asiae.co.kr

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