President Lee Jae-myung on the 4th said, "For residents in depopulation areas, we will provide a rural and fishery basic income of 150,000 won per month."
Lee said in a policy speech on next year's budget bill at the National Assembly on the same day, "To ease concentration in the capital region and to achieve balanced national development, we will provide thicker support the farther a place is from the capital region."
Lee explained, "In drafting this budget, the government has swiftly introduced a fiscal principle favoring local areas so that regions become the center of growth and open a new era of five poles and three special zones, overcoming the current structure solidified as a single-pole capital region system."
He continued, "As part of that, we designed seven fiscal programs, including the child allowance and senior jobs, so that non-capital regions receive more support," adding, "In addition, when implementing national projects that involve fiscal spending, we will continue to expand local-first and local-preferential approaches."
Lee also explained, "We have significantly enhanced the autonomy of local government administration by expanding the size of block grants—so local governments can decide projects according to their circumstances—to 10.6 trillion won, roughly tripling the previous level."