Gyeonggi-do Completes First Payment of 'Opportunity Income for Disabled' by End of August

Jinju Kim (41), who has a disability, starts her day by waking up at 7 a.m. and taking a walk around Hanul Disabled Community, a residential facility for people with severe disabilities in Yongin City.

Gyeonggi Province will complete the first payment of the representative policy of the 8th local government term, 'Opportunity Income for Persons with Disabilities,' by the end of August.

Earlier, on July 21, Gyeonggi Province selected 2,000 recipients of the Opportunity Income for Persons with Disabilities and has been making sequential payments since July 25. As of August 2, 590 recipients have been paid a total of 157.65 million KRW.

The Opportunity Income for Persons with Disabilities is a policy that provides 50,000 KRW per month for six months, totaling 300,000 KRW, to persons with disabilities who take care of their own health and whose disability is classified as severe.

Once the selected recipients set exercise goals, the first installment of the opportunity income is provided sequentially in cash to support their value activities. Participants wear smartwatches, register their own exercise goals, and must engage in physical activity at least twice a week for at least one hour each time, taking care of their own health through movement.

Since the recipients are persons with severe disabilities, most require assistance from social workers during the process of submitting exercise goals. Accordingly, the province is cooperating with the Nurim Center (Comprehensive Welfare Support Center for Persons with Disabilities) and others to provide support.

Gyeonggi Province views the improvement or stabilization of health through the activities of persons with disabilities, which reduces social costs (medical and care expenses), as a social value.

Kim Neung-sik, Director of the Welfare Bureau of Gyeonggi Province, stated, "By August, we will provide both smartwatches and the first installment of support funds to the recipients of the Opportunity Income for Persons with Disabilities to support their value activities. We will communicate on-site to carefully manage the difficulties and achievements experienced by persons with disabilities during their value activities and develop this project into one that offers more opportunities."

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