by BIEN | Aug 22, 2017 | News
Futurism reported on automation, robots, and universal basic income through the provision of a chart-article. Some of the information summarized by the chart includes that fact that as there are 4.73 robots working per 100 human workers in South Korea. The global average is 0.66 per 100 workers. That ratio is reported to be rising rapidly throughout the world. Also, with more robots, they become cheaper to implement. Workers in the developing world are most at risk of losing jobs due to automation.
The problem is not limited manufacturing, however. It includes diverse areas such as farm labor, construction labor, truck drivers, mailer carriers, and so on. The chart mentions that $2,600 per month as a UBI solution is being considered in Switzerland, which BIEN has reported on, and only $1,000 per year in Kenya.(same paragraph as above) The chart also describes the cases of Alaska, Namibia, and Harper Lee.
It ends with quotes from supporters of a UBI, including Martin Luther King, Jr., Bertrand Russell, Harris Levine, Jeremy Howard, F.A. Hayek, and Thomas Paine.
More information at:
Futurism, “Universal Basic Income: The Answer to Automation?“, Futurism, June 2017
by Andre Coelho | Feb 8, 2017 | News
Mayor Lee Jae-myung. Credit to: Pangyo Techno Valley.
On December 9, 2016, the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea voted to impeach Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal with her lifelong friend Choi Soon-sil. Due to the impeachment, the next presidential election in Korea is expected to take place early, in April or May 2017 instead of December, 2017. As the details of the scandal have emerged, a previously less well-known presidential candidate has been rising in opinion polls – Lee Jae-myung, the current mayor of Seongnam city. This city is located to the southeast of Seoul and is one of many municipalities of the Gyeonggi province.
In two months, Mayor Lee has emerged as a so-called “dark horse” candidate with a poll approval rating of 18%. He has been ranked as the third most popular of the presidential candidates. The strongest driving force of his rise is attributed to his prompt action in advocating for the impeachment of President Park. He was the first among the presidential candidates to call on the National Assembly to impeach Park Geun-hye. Lee is also famous for his clear stance against powerful vested interests, including the “ in Korea.
Yet, there is another important factor that grabs attention. His major campaign promise is about providing universal basic income. Mayor Lee has successfully implemented the youth dividend policy, which pays an annual dividend of one million Korean won (approximately 850 US dollars) to individuals who are 24 years of age and who have lived in Seongnam city for three years or more. The policy finds its philosophical roots in the idea of universal basic income. The Park Geun-hye administration used several strategies to deter the implementation of the local youth dividend policy, however, Mayor Lee eventually fulfilled his promise.
A survey of 2866 youth distribution recipients shows that 96.3% of youth who received the benefit are satisfied with the policy. Some responses revealing satisfaction and even gratitude include the following: “Upon receiving the youth credit, I have gained confidence, which is more valuable than money”; and “Society looked after me for the first time”.
In his presidential candidacy announcement speech for the 19th Election, Lee Jae-myung said he will expand the universal basic income system to the national level. More specifically, he outlined a detailed plan to provide the ‘life-cycle dividend’ and ‘special dividend’ shortly after his inauguration.
The life-cycle dividend will pay a child dividend to individuals aged between 0 and 12, a teen dividend to those in the 13-18 bracket, a youth dividend to 19-29-year old, and an elderly dividend to individuals who are 65 or older. The special dividend is aimed at specific populations, such as farmers, fishermen and people with disabilities. The amount of the annual dividend is set at one million Korean won per person (874 US$/person), regardless of the kind of dividend. Lee explained that he finds it feasible to allocate 28 trillion won, which accounts for about 7% of the total budget, to the dividend policy by tightening central government spending.
Lee Jae-myung. Credit to: Bloomberg / Getty Images
Moreover, Mayor Lee has also promised that he will secure a total of 15.5 trillion Korean won (13.6 billion US$) by establishing a new ‘land holding tax’. He argues that the revenue from the land holding tax should be used as a source of a land dividend, which provides an annual dividend of 300,000 won (approximately 255 US dollars) to all citizens of the Republic of Korea. Not only can this tax collect a portion of all rents from real estate publically, it can also help realize the idea of universal basic income. Lee firmly believes that land is a common property for all citizens.
In fact, the Republic of Korea is a country that appreciates the ‘publicness’ of land. The Constitution of the Republic of Korea states, in Article 122, that “The State can fulfill necessary restrictions and obligations related to the efficient and balanced use, development, and preservation of land, which is the basis of production and living of all citizens.” In the past, when the government has attempted to implement policies in the spirit of this clause, the country has witnessed numerous attacks from powerful vested interests, the so-called “top 1%”. Most of the time, the government has thus had to withdraw from such policies. However, Lee Jae-myung is seen as a well-equipped candidate with the ability and courage to fight against the powerful elites in Korea and successfully implement this policy.
Mayor Lee’s ideas about basic income
Lee Jae-myung’s basic income policy combines two ideas of basic income theory: 1) the state is responsible for ensuring the de facto freedom of all citizens; and 2) land, natural resources, the environment, and knowledge are common property that must be shared by all members of society. On these grounds, his basic income policy is thought to have positive prospects and much room for growth, particularly in terms of the payout amount. Thus, proponents of universal basic income around the world should pay attention to Lee Jae-myung in Korea.
If Mayor Lee is elected as the next president of the Republic of Korea and successfully fulfills his campaign promise on basic income policy, he would be able to address many problems currently undermining Korean society, such as income and wealth inequalities, unfair competition, and real estate speculation. Then, Korea might be able to follow a path of inclusive growth, which will eventually lead to a fair and equal society.
About the author:
Gangsoo Jun is a professor of economy at the Catholic University of Daegu, South Korea, and is involved in Lee Jae-Myung policymaking team.
More information at:
Language: Korean
Se-young Lee, “전국민에 연간 130만원 … – 이재명 ‘기본소득 마케팅’ [Annual Dividend of 1,300,000 won to All Citizens … – Lee Jae-Myung ‘Basic Income Marketing’]”, The Hankyoreh, 18 January, 2017.
Language: English
Kang Jin-Kyu, “Seongnam mayor declares presidential bid”, Korea JoongAng Daily, 24 January, 2017.
Hyosang Ahn, “SOUTH KOREA: Seongnam City announced to implement ‘Youth Dividend’”, Basic Income News, 7 October, 2015.
Toru Yamamori, “SOUTH KOREA: Mayor of Seongnam City talks on his plan for ‘Youth Dividend’”, Basic Income News, 15 September, 2015.
by BIEN | Jan 21, 2017 | News
(Image Credit: The Hankyoreh Media Company)
According to business writer Kwack Jung-soo, South Korea will need to make fundamental changes to its operations due to the nation’s prolonged low growth and lack of new growth engines.
In a new book entitled 2017 Grand Forecast for the South Korean Economy, 43 economics experts provide analyses and possible solutions to the economic crisis in South Korea.
One contributor, Professor Lee Keun of Seoul National University, believes that the present situation is a “crisis of South Korean capitalism” rooted in income inequality. He maintains that part of the solution is a “basic income system” in which “sufficient livelihood benefits would be paid to all citizens to keep them out of poverty, regardless of assets, income, or working status” (in the words of reporter Jung-soo).
Read the full article here:
Kwack Jung-soo, “Economists saynin 2017 will enter “long-term low growth conditions“, The Hankyoreh, November 23, 2016.
Reviewed by Kate McFarland
by BIEN | Dec 30, 2016 | Bios & background Info, Opinion, Testimonies
Hyosang Ahn (Permanent Director of BIKN)
“Emancipation and Basic Income”
The first time I encountered the idea of basic income was the summer of 2007. I was at the time the vice president of a small party on the left, rather imaginatively named the Socialist Party, and was preparing for the coming presidential election in December. A close leftist intellectual (who is also a Life Member of BIEN) presented to me the idea of basic income, and as soon as I heard it, I decided to include it into our party platform. My alacrity was because of one of the central tenets of the Socialist Party – de-exclusion. That is to say, only when no member of society is denied access to any aspects of said society can there be a truly emancipated society. Thus I thought that a basic income which provides the material basis for everyone would form the keystone of such a society.
As one of the radical student activists of the 1980s, I struggled for not just democratization of my country but an emancipatory socialism. I saw that a socialism which outmodes human exploitation would be the only way for human beings to enjoy true liberty. That belief continued to form the cornerstone of my ideology even as the historically existing socialism crumbled and as I distanced myself from what the mainstream political sphere purported to be “socialism”, with its domination by political elites and disdain for mass participation. In order for a truly participatory democracy to function, people must have the material foundation that allows them to live a decent life. Hence, I found the idea of basic income to be quite compatible with my politics and ideology.
From there, I quickly embraced the idea of basic income and committed myself to the basic income movement in South Korea. In 2009, a handful of intellectuals and activists, including myself, came together to form the Basic Income Korean Network (BIKN), mainly for the purpose of research and dissemination. Then, by 2013, BIKN shifted into more of a mass organization which attempts to place basic income at the centre of the national political agenda. In 2016, it hosted the BIEN congress at Seoul with parties and politicians across the ideological spectrum taking an interest in the idea.
We, the people in South Korea, are in the political turbulence caused by the corrupted and incompetent president and her clique which might lead to a snap presidential election. Now even some major politicians on the centre and right who would run for president call for basic income scheme, although it is not full basic income. The reason why they who ignored it in the past now accept the basic income idea is, I think, that there is no way to overcome the current economic and social crisis other than basic income. So 2017 would be recorded as the marked year if we could have basic income in full sense in the future.
Looking back, you could say that the basic income movement in South Korea has just crossed the threshold, albeit with a long detour. I continue to hold to the conviction that the basic income would be a key component in creation of a freer society and a better future. And that society could be made only by free people.
At the end of 2016, the year in which BIEN celebrated the 30th anniversary of its birth, all Life Members were invited to reflect on their own personal journeys with the organization. See other contributions to the feature edition here.
by Kate McFarland | Nov 10, 2016 | News
Economist Daniel Raventós’s book Basic Income: The Material Conditions of Freedom has now been published in Korean.
The book addresses common questions such as the following: “Is a basic income just?” “Why would an unconditional basic income be more effective at combating poverty than means-tested benefits?” “How can a basic income be financed?” “How would work be affected by a basic income?”
The first version of the book (El derecho a la existencia: La propuesta del Subsidio Universal Garantizado) was published in Spanish in 1999. An updated version was published in both Spanish and English in 2007, and a Czech edition was published in 2014.
As he describes in the book’s preface, Raventós’s visit to Seoul for BIEN’s 16th Congress affirmed his interest in promoting basic income in South Korea:
“One of the highlights of my trip to South Korea was a meeting requested by Lee Jae-myung, mayor of the city of Seongnam and Korean translator of this book. This was most agreeable and instructive and Lee Jae-myung’s account of what he thought were the possibilities for basic income in South Korea convinced me of his deep knowledge of the proposal. My visit to Seoul was certainly very useful for me and also, I hope, for making basic income better known in South Korea.
“It is my heartfelt wish that this book, now available in Korean, will contribute towards greater knowledge of basic income among Korean speakers. I am grateful to Chaekdam for publishing it and would be delighted if South Korea were soon among the countries where basic income enjoys widespread support. I say I would be delighted because, to paraphrase the great Thomas Paine, we fight for basic income not as a matter of charity but of justice.”
The preface of Basic Income: The Material Conditions of Freedom is viewable online (in English), and a complete copy of the book is available as a free pdf download.
Daniel Raventós is a Professor at the University of Barcelona and president of BIEN’s Spanish affiliate, Red Renta Básica.
Reviewed by Julen Bollain
Korean fish market photo CC BY 2.0 Ryan Bodenstein
