Huh Taejung: “Upgrading Ontong Daejeon into a Regional Economic Circulation Platform”

Youth Support Grants, Transportation Reimbursements, and More
to Be Integrated into the Ontong Daejeon Wallet

Huh Taejung, candidate for mayor of Daejeon (Photo by Mo Seokbong)

Huh Taejung, the Democratic Party candidate for Mayor of Daejeon City, announced his plan to upgrade 'Ontong Daejeon'—originally introduced in May 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic to protect small business owners and local commercial districts—from a simple cashback card to a 'regional economic circulation platform.'

During a press conference at his campaign office on April 22, Huh stated, "I will integrate various policy allowances—including youth support grants, transportation reimbursements, carbon reduction incentives, volunteer points, and public servant welfare points—into a single Ontong Daejeon wallet."

Huh claims that once policy allowances are funneled through Ontong Daejeon, they will automatically transform into local consumption demand.

Regarding his 'Ontong Daejeon 2.0' pledge, he explained, "This is not a massive development project, but a structural shift that ensures Daejeon's money continues to circulate within Daejeon." He described it as an upgraded version of Ontong Daejeon, which he introduced during his tenure as the 7th popularly elected mayor.

He pledged to address the 'inconsistent cashback' issue of the 8th administration's Daejeon Sarang Card by ensuring consistent basic cashback rates. In addition, he promised extra benefits for traditional markets, local shopping districts, welfare-vulnerable groups, and youth startup franchisees.

Huh also declared his commitment to making citizen consumption data public. He plans to transition the consumption data, which is currently concentrated on private operators' servers, to a system accessible for utilization, and to provide small business owners with free information useful for business management—such as sales trends, industry comparisons, and peak time analyses.

Huh explained, "Ontong Daejeon 2.0 is not a standalone policy. It will serve as the operational infrastructure and delivery channel for other pledges, such as Daejeon-style high fuel cost support, basic income for youth, cultural vouchers, public transportation, eco-friendly initiatives, and volunteer programs." He added, "We will create a system where one citizen's action can generate multiple layers of local economic revitalization effects."

Addressing the fact that the Daejeon Sarang Card cashback for April 2026 ran out within just eight days, Huh diagnosed, "The reality in Daejeon is that the most urgently needed support disappears first during the most difficult times," emphasizing the necessity of Ontong Daejeon 2.0.

He reiterated, "Instead of cutting benefits due to a lack of budget, it is crucial to change the system itself so that money circulates within Daejeon for longer and more frequently. That is the starting point for restoring livelihoods that I am talking about, and it is the goal of Ontong Daejeon 2.0."

Prior to announcing his pledges, Huh held a meeting with local traditional market merchants to hear their opinions on how to utilize Ontong Daejeon 2.0 and the challenges they face.

After the meeting, Hwang Seongmoon, president of the Jungang Market Merchants Association, who attended the pledge announcement, inquired about the feasibility of the B2B (business-to-business) model, which is central to Ontong Daejeon 2.0. In response, Huh emphasized, "Successful cases have already been verified in Europe and other regions," and stated, "The activation of B2B transactions is a clear policy objective and direction of Ontong Daejeon 2.0."

He further explained, "However, since most industries share distribution networks with other metropolitan cities and provinces, rather than a full-scale implementation, we will select applicable industries and regions and establish detailed execution plans," expressing his intention to enhance policy effectiveness.

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