Gyeonggi-do decided on a citizen payout for disaster relief amounting to 100,000 won for each individual residing in the province to stimulate the local economy, which has slowed down due to COVID-19. The province will begin handing out the money in April.

Seoul had previously decided to provide income for disaster relief to a select group of citizens, but this is the first time that a high-level local government has decided to universally give money to all residents, not just a select few.

Gyeonggi-do Governor Lee Jae-myung held a press conference on March 24 and said, “We could not put off measures to overcome this difficult situation any longer, so we have decided to make use of all our fiscal resources and provide a ‘Gyeonggi-style basic income for disaster relief’ amounting to 100,000 won per resident.” Although the money will only be handed out once, Governor Lee’s proposal for the payout is expected to influence future discussions on income for disaster relief. In the past, Governor Lee had asked the central government to directly provide such funding claiming the lack of fiscal resources of the local governments.

People registered as Gyeonggi-do residents as of midnight March 24 will be able to receive the Gyeonggi-style basic income. According to the demographics based on resident registrations as of the end of February 2020, there are 13,265,377 residents in Gyeonggi-do. Foreigners will be excluded from the payout. Beginning April, residents will immediately receive the provincial funding after an ID check at the eup, myeon and dong community service centers. One person can collect the money for the entire family (a letter of attorney will be required when collecting the money for an adult member of the family). The money will be paid in the “Gyeonggi-do local currency,” which will expire after three months from the date it was handed out. The province expects this to lead to double benefits. It can support families and increase the sales of self-employed storeowners by encouraging people to spend the money in a short period of time.

The province secured the necessary fiscal resources, 1.3 trillion won, by borrowing from the disaster management fund, the disaster relief fund, and the local development fund from the sales of vehicle purchase bonds. Governor Lee said, “We hope that the Gyeonggi-style basic income for disaster relief will be the start of discussions on a basic income at the state level and establish itself as a new policy befitting a new era.”