Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon criticized the basic income policy proposed by Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party, highlighting the superiority of Seoul’s income assistance experiment, “didimdol income.” At a presentation on March 24th regarding the research results of didimdol income, Mayor Oh stated that a universal basic income, which provides the same amount of money to everyone, fails to adequately support vulnerable groups and is unnecessary for the ultra-wealthy, labeling it as indiscriminate welfare.
Mayor Oh emphasized that didimdol income, which targets and supports the vulnerable as needed, restores social mobility with limited financial resources, making it a highly efficient welfare policy for the disadvantaged. He explained that implementing a basic income of 1 million won per person annually, or 83,000 won per month, would require an additional 51 trillion won yearly. In contrast, didimdol income would require 36.6 trillion won for households earning up to 85% of the median income and 13 trillion won for those up to 65%. He questioned the effectiveness of a monthly 80,000 won subsidy for high-income individuals and suggested that providing a differentiated allowance of 400,000 to 1 million won to low-income households would have more practical value.
Mayor Oh pointed out that basic income does not stimulate work motivation, whereas didimdol income not only saves resources but also encourages self-reliant welfare by motivating individuals to work. He also criticized the risk of giving cash-based welfare, noting the inefficiency of overlapping systems and stressing the unique solution provided by didimdol income. The policy, now in its third year, supports households earning less than 85% of the median income in Seoul by supplementing their household income.
The didimdol income program features a progressive support structure, providing more aid as household income decreases, aimed at reducing welfare blind spots by using income and asset criteria to determine eligible participants. Currently, 2,076 households in Seoul receive didimdol income.