Kim Dong-yeon's 'Opportunity Income for Artists and Disabled' to be Paid to 23,000 People Next Year

Promotional poster for opportunity income for artists introduced by Gyeonggi Province this year

Gyeonggi Province will significantly expand the number of recipients of the ‘Opportunity Income’ program for artists and people with disabilities, which was first implemented this year, to 23,000 next year and increase the support amount.

On the 26th, Gyeonggi Province announced plans to expand the Opportunity Income for artists from 7,000 to 13,000 people and for people with disabilities from 7,000 to 10,000 people next year, and to raise the support amount from 50,000 KRW to 100,000 KRW per month starting in the second half of the year.

Opportunity Income is a flagship policy of Governor Kim Dong-yeon of Gyeonggi Province that provides income compensation for a certain period to those who create value in our society but do not receive fair compensation, offering them more opportunities.

The Opportunity Income for artists provides 1.5 million KRW annually in two installments to artists residing in the province who hold a valid certificate of artistic activity and whose personal income is below 120% of the median income level.

Gyeonggi Province explained that the policy intent of the Opportunity Income for artists is for artists to engage in creative artistic activities while receiving the income for a certain period, and for the social value generated as a result to be shared with the residents of the province.

This year, Gyeonggi Province implemented the program in 27 cities and counties excluding Suwon, Yongin, Goyang, and Seongnam. As of December, 18 cities and counties including Paju have selected 4,123 artists as recipients and completed payments in two phases. The remaining nine cities and counties will complete payments by the end of the year, resulting in about 7,000 artists across the province receiving Opportunity Income this year. Next year, Suwon City will join the project, and a total of 13,000 artists residing in 28 cities and counties will receive the Opportunity Income for artists.

The Opportunity Income for people with disabilities provides 50,000 KRW per month for up to six months, totaling 300,000 KRW, to those with ‘severe disabilities.’

Recipients with severe disabilities must wear a smartwatch and engage in physical activity for at least one hour twice a week to manage their own health. Gyeonggi Province explained that if this leads to a slight reduction in physical discomfort and a decrease in social costs such as medical and care expenses, it also creates value. They added that this is the first recognition of value-creating activities by people with disabilities and serves as an opportunity to improve their rights and raise public awareness.

Gyeonggi Province paid Opportunity Income to 7,000 people with disabilities, initially 2,000 in July and an additional 5,000 in October.

Next year, the support amount for people with disabilities will increase from 50,000 KRW to 100,000 KRW per month starting in the second half, allowing recipients to receive up to 900,000 KRW over 12 months, and the scale of support will expand to 10,000 people.

In particular, a survey of the initial 2,000 participants showed that 86.5% (1,730 people) had almost no physical activity less than once a week, but this sharply dropped to 2.7% (543 people) after receiving the Opportunity Income for people with disabilities.

A Gyeonggi Province official emphasized, "Both the Opportunity Income for artists and for people with disabilities aim to activate social value-creating activities," adding, "To expand Opportunity Income to more people, we will establish and promote new Opportunity Income programs next year for athletes, farmers and fishermen, climate action, and child care communities."

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