Some 1,066 village chiefs from rural areas of the South Jeolla-Gwangju Special Integrated City urged Monday that a rural basic income program be implemented across the entire region starting in 2027.
The village chiefs gathered at the briefing room of the Gwangju Assembly building of the South Jeolla-Gwangju City Council, where they issued a declaration calling for the full implementation of the rural basic income program, signed by more than 1,000 village chiefs.
"The government plans to expand the pilot program to 35 areas next year, but it should not be limited to select areas — it must be expanded to cover all of South Jeolla-Gwangju," they said.
They added that residents in areas not yet covered by the program feel a sense of relative deprivation when neighboring communities are already receiving the benefit. "The integration was meant to prevent regional extinction, and the rural basic income program must be fully implemented to stop the disappearance of rural communities," they said.
sij@heraldcorp.com
