Mayor Yim Tae-young: "Government Must Revise Basic Asset Standards for Social Welfare Benefits"

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jung Jun-sung] On the morning of the 27th, Suwon Mayor Yim Tae-young, Changwon Mayor Heo Seong-mu, Yongin Mayor Baek Kun-gi, Goyang Mayor Lee Jae-jun, and the city council chairs of Suwon, Changwon, Yongin, and Goyang conducted a relay one-person protest in front of the Ministry of Health and Welfare at the Government Complex in Sejong, and urged that "the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Central Livelihood Security Committee revise the basic asset standards announcement for social welfare benefits."

Mayor Yim Tae-young stated, "The welfare benefit standards for special metropolitan cities with populations of over 1 million still follow the standards from over 20 years ago, classified as 'small and medium cities,'" and said, "The Ministry of Health and Welfare must take an active role in revising the basic asset standards announcement for social welfare benefits to eliminate the reverse discrimination faced by citizens in cities with populations over 1 million."

He continued, "Tomorrow (July 28), the Central Livelihood Security Committee will hold its plenary session. I hope our demands will be accepted and the Ministry of Health and Welfare's basic asset standards announcement will definitely be revised within this year," and said, "I am determined to do my best until the end so that we can overcome the first hurdle (revision of the Ministry of Health and Welfare announcement) and enable the Ministry of Strategy and Finance to make corresponding efforts."

Mayor Yim led the relay one-person protest as the first participant, followed by Jo Seok-hwan, Chairman of Suwon City Council, and the chairs of the four city councils, along with Goyang Mayor Lee Jae-jun, Yongin Mayor Baek Kun-gi, and Changwon Mayor Heo Seong-mu.

Cities with populations of over 1 million have socioeconomic scales and living standards similar to "large cities" (Seoul and metropolitan cities), but when selecting welfare beneficiaries, they are classified as "small and medium cities," resulting in lower basic asset amounts being set compared to large cities.

Basic asset amount refers to the value of property that is recognized as necessary to maintain a basic livelihood and is excluded from income assessment.

Under the current system, when selecting basic livelihood security beneficiaries, basic asset amounts are deducted by city size: 69 million won for large cities, 42 million won for small and medium cities, and 35 million won for rural areas.

Cities with populations of over 1 million have urban scales and living standards equivalent to metropolitan cities but receive the same standards as small municipalities with populations of 50,000 to 100,000 classified as "small and medium cities." Due to these unreasonable standards, citizens in cities with populations over 1 million may not be selected as social welfare beneficiaries even when they have the same property value as citizens in metropolitan cities, as they receive smaller basic asset deductions.