Rural basic income of 150,000 won a month draws 5% more residents, but half are over 60

Populations in areas selected for the government's rural basic income pilot program — which pays residents 150,000 won ($110) per person per month to counter regional depopulation — have grown by about 5 percent since the project launched. However, nearly half of the new arrivals are aged 60 or older, raising questions about whether the program can effectively attract the younger and middle-aged residents needed to reverse rural decline.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to the office of People Power Party lawmaker Lee Seong-kwon, a member of the National Assembly's Agriculture, Food, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Committee, the combined population of the 10 counties selected for the pilot rose from 318,841 in September last year to 334,904 in July this year — an increase of 16,063 people, or about 5.0 percent, over 10 months.

The rural basic income program distributes a fixed monthly sum in local currency to rural residents as a measure against population decline and regional depopulation. Payments in the original 10 counties began in late February. Total disbursements through last month reached 331.9 billion won, of which 315.4 billion won was actually spent, yielding a usage rate of 95 percent.

A breakdown by age group reveals a skew toward older residents. Of the roughly 16,000 people who moved into the 10 counties between September last year and July this year, about 8,000 — nearly half — were aged 60 or older. Residents in their 20s and 30s combined accounted for about 4,000 new arrivals, half the figure for those over 60. People in their 40s and 50s added about 3,500, while those aged 10 and under contributed roughly 800.

While the program has succeeded in growing overall population, the influx has been disproportionately concentrated among older age groups. Attracting more young and middle-aged residents who can settle long-term and participate in the local economy remains a key challenge.

Population growth rates also varied by county. Sinan-gun recorded the highest increase at 9.0 percent, followed by Jeongseon-gun at 5.6 percent, Yeongyang-gun at 5.2 percent and Yeoncheon-gun at 5.1 percent — all above the 10-county average. Cheongyang-gun posted the lowest growth at 3.3 percent.

The government has maintained since the program's early stages that it is already producing results in population inflow and local commercial recovery. It subsequently secured supplementary budget funding to expand the program's reach, adding seven more counties in June to bring the total number of pilot counties to 17.

Alongside the expansion, fraudulent claims have emerged as a management challenge. A total of 27 cases of benefit fraud were detected across the original pilot areas, with 24 involving violations of residency requirements and three involving proxy applications.

The government suspended payments to those found in violation and clawed back 42 million won already disbursed. However, no confirmed cases were found of people registering a new address in a pilot area without actually living there.

"I support the need for the government's basic income program in rural areas facing depopulation, but the fact that growth is concentrated among residents over 60 means it cannot be called a silver bullet for regional decline," Lee said. "We must stop rural depopulation through more effective measures to bring in young and middle-aged residents."