Seoul's safety income initiative paves way for future Korean welfare: mayor

The Seoul Safety Income Project, initiated by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, will set an example for South Korea's welfare policy in the future, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said Thursday, marking the project's second anniversary.

The initiative launched as a pilot project by the city government in 2022, is an income guarantee model that partially compensates the household income gap for families earning less than 85 percent of the median income.

A key feature of this initiative is that eligibility is maintained even if the predetermined income threshold is exceeded, with a structure that provides more support to those with lower incomes, following a "support the lower, aid the upper" approach.

Unlike the existing basic welfare system, where recipients lose eligibility if they earn money, the initiative is designed to encourage work motivation, according to the mayor.

"It is meaningful that this significant experiment through the Safety Income Project is being carried out in this city of 10 million residents. Over the past year, the experiment has resulted in increased income for participants and a significantly higher exit rate from welfare dependence compared to the control group. This experiment will be a source of pride in South Korea's history," Oh said.

"We are committed to ensuring that Safety Income becomes a hallmark of Korea, covering every individual without leaving anyone behind. We will meticulously oversee and prepare every aspect from design to implementation, with a sense of mission to establish the foundation of Korea's welfare policy model, or K-welfare," Oh added.

The initiative is operating amid intensifying confrontation between the Yoon Suk Yeol government and the main opposition Democratic Party which has proposed to provide cash handouts of 250,000 won to all citizens to stimulate domestic spending.

President Yoon has publicly denounced the opposition party's proposal, saying it would further accelerate inflation and lead to the country's credit rating collapse.

At the event held to celebrate the project's second year anniversary, the city government invited Byun Geum-sun, associate research fellow at the Seoul Institute; Yoo Jong-sung, director of the Korea Inequality Research Lab; and Lim Wan-seop, head of the Basic Security Research Center at the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs to discuss strategies and directions for future development.

In addition to the three main presenters, five panelists, including Oh Geon-ho, chair of the operating committee of A Welfare State for the People by the People, and Kim Won-sub, professor of sociology at Korea University, participated in the panel discussion, engaging in an in-depth analysis of the Safety Income project.