Gyeonggi mulls giving universal basic income to foreign spouses, permanent residents
Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung / Korea Times file
Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul, is considering granting marriage immigrants and permanent residents the right to disaster basic income, which it will pay to citizens to help cope with the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, its governor said Wednesday.
The province announced last month that it will provide 100,000 won (US$81.99) per person to all citizens beginning in April. Foreigners were excluded from the benefit.
"We are positively considering paying marriage immigrants and permanent residents," Gov. Lee Jae-myung said on Twitter.
"We did not give deep consideration to certain aspects because speed mattered more than content," he added.
Earlier this month, non-Korean residents filed petitions with the National Human Rights Commission, Gyeonggi Province and other local governments against their decisions to exclude them from the handouts even though they pay taxes.
Gyeonggi had 48,705 foreign spouses and 60,167 permanent residents as of the end of February. (Yonhap)