Assembly committee chair pushes to enact rural basic income ordinance

Forum with Jeonnam Research Institute and executive branch focuses on fiscal burden-sharing structure

Ryu Gi-jun, chair of the Agriculture and Fisheries Committee of the South Jeolla-Gwangju Integrated Special City Council and a Democratic Party of Korea member representing Hwasun 2, convened a forum Wednesday at the council chamber to refine a draft ordinance on rural basic income support and explore practical implementation measures.

The forum brought together Ryu, research fellows from the Jeonnam Research Institute and civil servants from relevant departments. They closely reviewed the ordinance's key provisions, projected fiscal requirements and its alignment with higher-level laws and government guidelines.

Participants broadly agreed on the need for a rural basic income to counter population decline and the threat of community extinction in rural areas, while focusing their discussions on concrete institutional safeguards to ensure the policy's long-term sustainability.

A central theme was ensuring that the basic income would go beyond simple cash transfers by linking it to the development of social economy organizations — such as rural care cooperatives — so that funds would be spent and reinvested locally, creating what participants described as a "virtuous cycle for the local economy."

Participants also exchanged views on how to establish a stable fiscal burden-sharing structure for the integrated special city in coordination with the national government's subsidy framework, in line with the central government's moves to expand rural basic income and revise the cost-sharing ratio between national and local governments.

"Rural basic income is a core policy for genuinely securing the autonomous authority of the South Jeolla-Gwangju Integrated Special City and improving the quality of life for farmers and fishers," Ryu said. "We will strengthen alignment with government subsidy programs and relevant laws, and build a stable fiscal foundation to produce an ordinance with real impact."

Ryu plans to hold public hearings from September onward to gather broad input from residents before formally introducing the final ordinance bill by the end of this year.