President proposes using surging agricultural special tax revenues boosted by stock market rally

Lee says policy could ease regional depopulation and Greater Seoul concentration

President Lee Jae-myung delivers remarks at a dinner meeting with Korean diaspora members at a hotel in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae-myung delivers remarks at a dinner meeting with Korean diaspora members at a hotel in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday. [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae-myung, currently touring Europe to attend the G7 summit, called Wednesday for making the rural basic income program permanent and expanding its payout. "Even with a two-year temporary rollout, the results are already this significant — wouldn't the effect be far greater if we made it permanent and raised the amount?" he said.

Lee raised the idea of expanding the rural basic income program in a post on X, formerly Twitter, linking to a news report that the population of Okcheon-gun in North Chungcheong Province had reversed its decline since the program was introduced.

On funding, Lee said the question ultimately comes down to political will and policy commitment. "Considering that the current budget for county-level governments already exceeds 20 million won ($13,200) per person, this is a matter of budget priorities," he said.

He went on to say that the agricultural special tax — revenue legally earmarked for rural use — has surged into the trillions of won in recent months, driven by a buoyant stock market. "Rather than spending this budget as before on rural roads, bridges and other infrastructure, it could be redirected as a funding source for rural basic income," he said.

Lee argued that locking in the rural basic income as a permanent project and raising the monthly payment from 150,000 won to a higher amount would deliver multiple benefits at once: revitalizing rural communities, encouraging people to return to farming and fishing, halting regional depopulation, achieving balanced national development, easing problems such as soaring housing prices caused by Greater Seoul concentration, and securing a comfortable old age for residents.

He closed by saying he wanted to hear the public's views on the proposal.


sang@heraldcorp.com