Gyeonggi-do to Provide 'Athlete Opportunity Income' as Early as July

‘Opportunity Income,’ a representative policy of the 8th Gyeonggi Province administration, will be provided to athletes following persons with disabilities and artists.

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

According to Gyeonggi Province on the 29th, the Gyeonggi Provincial Council held the 4th plenary session of the 373rd extraordinary meeting on the same day and passed the ordinance to establish the ‘Gyeonggi Province Athlete Opportunity Income Payment Ordinance’ containing these provisions.

Gyeonggi Province will finalize the project targets and scale after holding a public hearing in April with participating cities and counties, experts, academia, and athletes, and will begin paying Opportunity Income as early as July.

The Athlete Opportunity Income will provide an annual payment of 1.5 million KRW in two installments to athletes aged 19 or older residing in the province who are registered professional athletes (active or retired) with the Korea Sports Council or the Korea Paralympic Committee Gyeonggi Province, whose personal income is at or below 120% of the median income.

Gyeonggi Provincial Government

The total budget is 1.18 billion KRW, including 590 million KRW from the provincial government. A total of 7,860 athletes in the province are eligible for payment.

To this end, since October last year, Gyeonggi Province has held 14 seminars and meetings with stakeholders such as athletes and sports organizations.

Through collecting opinions, it was decided to prioritize support for professional athletes and retired professional athletes (coaches, referees, etc.).

Lee Jong-don, Director of the Gyeonggi Province Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, said, "Athlete Opportunity Income is intended to promote activities that create social value," adding, "It will be a good example of recognizing the social value of athletes who quietly work in basic and less popular sports."

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