Some 24,000 residents receive 200,000 won a month starting in August

Gurye Store hosts 13 outlets linking local entrepreneurs and specialty products

Residents buy locally milled wheat bread with basic income, building a regional economic cycle

Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Song Mi-ryeong answers questions about a comprehensive farmland investigation at a press briefing held at Government Complex Sejong on Sept. 10. [Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs]
Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Song Mi-ryeong answers questions about a comprehensive farmland investigation at a press briefing held at Government Complex Sejong on Sept. 10. [Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs]

An experiment in building a self-sustaining local economy is underway in Gurye-gun, South Jeolla Province, where basic income payments distributed to rural residents are being channeled back into locally grown and processed food. Wheat grown in the area is milled and baked into bread that residents can buy with their basic income, creating a loop that connects production, retail and consumption entirely within the community.

Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Song Mi-ryeong visited Gurye-gun on Wednesday to review progress on the rural basic income pilot program and inspect the local production, retail and consumption ecosystem firsthand.

Gurye-gun is one of seven counties selected in June through an additional round of applications for the rural basic income pilot. Since Aug. 28, roughly 24,000 residents have received 200,000 won ($147) per month — 150,000 won from the central government and an additional 50,000 won contributed by Gurye-gun itself.

Song met with residents that day to hear about changes they had noticed since the payments began and to collect suggestions from the field.

In response to feedback that residents in township areas faced limited places to spend the income, Song also explained revisions to the program's implementation guidelines that took effect Sunday. Under the revised rules, areas that designate towns and townships as separate living zones may include up to two of five eligible business categories — such as laundromats — as exceptions to the 50,000-won spending cap. Taxis were added to the list of businesses already subject to the cap, which includes gas stations, convenience stores and Hanaro Mart branches in township areas, allowing township residents to use taxis operating in town centers.

Song then visited Gurye Store, operated by the Gurye 1963 Cooperative, a resident-led social solidarity economy organization. The store hosts 13 outlets where basic income can be spent, including shops selling locally produced Woori wheat products and regional specialties, a craft sales and exhibition space, and a cafe.

The cooperative also held a flea market on Sept. 11, giving local entrepreneurs a venue to sell their products. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs views the setup as a model for connecting basic income spending to social solidarity economy organizations and small businesses, keeping consumption within the local commercial district.

Locally grown wheat also finds its way back to local consumers through the basic income system. The wheat processing factory Song visited Wednesday is the country's first domestic wheat processing facility, completed in June 1993. Operated by the Gurye Wheat Farming Cooperative, it processes 1,800 metric tons of domestically grown wheat a year and posts annual sales of about 3.8 billion won.

Some of the flour produced at the factory is supplied to bakeries and restaurants in the Gurye area. Local bakeries use it to make Woori wheat bread, which they sell at Gurye Store and other outlets, and residents can purchase the bread with their basic income payments. The arrangement creates a full circuit — wheat grown locally passes through milling, production and retail before returning to local consumers.

"Gurye-gun is a model case of building a Woori wheat ecosystem through community governance," Song said. "The government will actively provide support in step with these community efforts so that the fruits of this work can be further expanded and sustained through the basic income program."


adastra@heraldcorp.com