● Local autonomy called

Corona 19 opened a forum for policy debate. The ruling party, the Blue House, and the Ministry of Information Technology have been fighting for a while, whether to pay only the lower 70% of the income or the entire national population for disaster relief. In the end, it was made to pay all the nations for financial resources and effects.

This is not the only case where selective payments are taken and eventually expanded to universal payments. In 2011, free meals in Seoul targeted the lower 70% of the original income and expanded to 100% after a referendum. When introducing the children's allowance in 2018, it was decided to pay for the lower 90% of income, but when inefficiencies such as screening procedures and administrative costs were raised, the allowance increased for all children starting in 2019, one year later.

Corona19 has caused welfare debates in the region as well as government policy decisions. This is because the amount and screening method of providing disaster relief funds for each local government were different. The heads of each local government competed in policy to overcome the disaster.

● Gyeonggi-do 'Basic Income of Disaster'

Lee Jae-myeong, Governor of Gyeonggi-do, moved rapidly in the corona phase. Governor Lee Jae-myeong, who has introduced youth allowances since the days of Seongnam Mayor, has preemptively raised the 'basic disaster income'. Actor Jo Yeo-jung, who appeared in the movie 'Parasites', led the promotion of basic income.

The basic income of disaster in Gyeonggi-do was closest to the original concept of basic income. This is a method of paying 100,000 won per person to all Gyeonggi-do residents. If you are a resident without screening for income, it is universally paid. In addition, in most welfare systems, subsidies are paid on an individual basis, unlike per household. When paid per household, the basic income is paid per person in the sense that the subsidy is not properly distributed to young people, non-family teens, and the disabled, who actually live alone but whose parents have a place of residence.

In addition, for basic income, it has the advantage that it does not require time and cost to calculate criteria for screening and screen applicants. Because of the nature of the economic crisis caused by Corona19, urgency is important, so some aspects of basic income have emerged as a more suitable alternative.

● Seoul 'Emergency Disaster Cost'

Unlike Gyeonggi Province, Seoul City chose to give more money to the lower 70%. Gyeonggi-do, a single-person household belonging to the bottom 70% of income, will receive a basic disaster income of 100,000 won and a government disaster aid of 350,000 won to receive 450,000 won. (Amounts excluding additional subsidies from cities and counties separately from metropolitan governments.) Of the government's disaster subsidies, Gyeonggi-do must share 13.9%, because the basic basic income paid by Gyeonggi-do was recognized as advance payment.

On the other hand, Seoul citizens who are single-person households belonging to the bottom 70% of the income receive 400,000 won of government disaster aid and 300,000 won of emergency emergency living expenses. Initially, the share of disaster relief funds in Seoul was expected to increase to 30%, but as a result, it was set at 18.1%.

If the basic income of disaster in Gyeonggi-do is the same way of equally giving a relatively small amount to all, the cost of living in Seoul is to give more money to the poor. Therefore, the amount of money received by a single household belonging to the top 30% of income is similar to that of Gyeonggi-do, 450,000 won, and Seoul citizen 400,000. There is a big difference in circles.

An official from Seoul said, "In the case of Seoul-type disaster living expenses, it also has the effect of correcting the relative poverty according to the number of household members." According to the Statistics Korea 'Family Trend Survey', the distribution of poverty is higher for single households. It is a statistic that there are many poor people in single households and relatively less poverty toward households with 4 or 5 people. In the case of Gyeonggi-do, if the subsidy is provided per person, it will increase to 100,000 won for single-person households, 200,000 won for two-person households, 300,000 won for three-person households, and 400,000 won for four-person households. On the other hand, the Seoul Metropolitan Government will receive 300,000 won for 1 ~ 2 people, 400,000 won for 3 ~ 4 people, and 500,000 won for 5 ~ 6 people. In other words, it means that Seoul's method of disbursement of disaster costs is more equitable than providing more money to single-person households with a relatively poor population.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, who started politics with universal welfare in the 2011 free meal debate, ironically, in the Corona 19 phase of 2020, he made selective payments for disaster aid. He chose the right direction to give more of the limited budget to those in need.

● Basic income or social security

Basic income has been a non-mainstream agenda that has only been discussed in some academic and minority parties for several years. The sudden and serious economic crisis brought on by Corona 19 has brought basic income into the field of policy debate. Those who claim basic income say that basic income will settle as a new kind of welfare system in the era of the fourth industrial revolution, where full employment is impossible. On the other hand, those who say that they need to strengthen the existing social security system that gives more benefits to the socially disadvantaged are criticized for being less effective and more populist than the budget for basic income. The debate on whether to introduce basic income or strengthen social security in the Corona 19 phase will continue to be an important topic in the future.