Low-Income Groups Face Job Loss and Business Closure Risks... Seoul City Holds 'Ansim Income' Forum

Holding a Safe Income Forum to Find Solutions to Poverty and Inequality on Social Welfare Day

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 7th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government will hold a forum on guaranteed income to ensure that citizens in welfare blind spots no longer miss out on welfare benefits due to complicated procedures and difficult-to-understand criteria.

The first presenter, Senior Research Fellow Kim Tae-wan from the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, explains that in Korean society, various crisis groups exist sporadically, but social security systems that can provide support in times of crisis are still insufficient. In his first presentation, Research Fellow Kim diagnoses the widening income gap and social risks after COVID-19, evaluates current social security policies, and presents prospects and challenges for future income security policies.

He particularly points out that a major problem of the current social security system is that there is almost no system for the working-age population (aged 18-64), who should lead future society, to receive continuous support from the government when facing crises such as unemployment or business suspension/closure. Since livelihood benefits are only provided to those below 30% of the median income under the current National Basic Livelihood Security System, it is difficult to be included as a support target, and the Earned Income Tax Credit provides only a one-time annual payment, making it a temporary support with clear limitations.

The second presenter, Professor Kim Yong-min of Kookmin University, argues that guaranteed income almost completely eliminates welfare blind spots and is highly effective in reducing income disparities through bottom-up support. Guaranteed income prevents the disincentive to work, which is a problem of the Basic Livelihood Security System, and can prevent budget leakage in the welfare delivery process. Professor Kim plans to analyze and evaluate Seoul’s ‘Guaranteed Income’ as an alternative that overcomes the limitations of income security policies experimented with in Europe, and will also present opinions on the system’s effectiveness, the additional budget scale required for implementing guaranteed income, and the government’s capacity to bear the costs.

This forum will be held under two themes: ‘Income Disparity and Social Risks’ and ‘New Welfare Systems Opening the Future.’ After each presenter’s speech, designated discussants will participate to share opinions from various perspectives. The forum chair will be Professor Park Ki-sung from the Department of Economics at Sungshin Women’s University.

After the presentations, experts from various fields including Byeon Geum-seon (Associate Research Fellow at Seoul Institute), Nam Chan-seop (Professor at Dong-A University), Hong Sun-mi (Professor at Hanshin University), Lee Won-jin (Associate Research Fellow at Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs), Oh Geon-ho (Chairman of the Policy Committee at the Creating a Welfare State), and Ryu Myung-seok (Director of Policy Research at Seoul Welfare Foundation) will participate in discussions on each topic. All participants will join the comprehensive discussion to deliberate on effective ‘Future Seoul Income Security System Innovation Plans’ for realizing Seoul-type guaranteed welfare.

Kim Sang-han, Director of Welfare Policy at Seoul Metropolitan Government, said, “The risk of income loss is increasing due to pandemics such as COVID-19, so it is necessary for the government to seek alternatives to the current income security system.” He added, “We hope this forum will serve as a platform for discussions to prepare innovative income security system plans, including Seoul’s guaranteed income.”

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