Basic Income Party

Not to be confused with Basic Income Alliance.

The Basic Income Party (BIP; Korean: 기본소득당; RR: Gibonsodeukdang) is a single-issue^[3] political party in South Korea advocating for a universal basic income (UBI). For the 2024 Parliamentary election, the Basic Income Party formed a coalition with the Open Democratic Party and the Social Democratic Party, called the New Progressive Alliance.^[4]

Basic Income Party 기본소득당 基本所得黨
Leader	Yong Hye-in
Secretary-General	Kwon Eun-hee
Floor Leader	Yong Hye-in
Chair of the Policy Planning Committee	Keum Min
Founded	19 January 2020
Split from	Labor Party
Membership (December 2022)	19,874[1]
Ideology	Universal basic income Social liberalism[2]
National affiliation	New Progressive Alliance
Colors	Mint green   Dark green
National Assembly	1 / 300
Municipal mayor and Gubernatorial	0 / 17
Municipal Mayors	0 / 26
Local Government	0 / 2,988
Website
www.basicincomeparty.kr
Politics of South Korea Political parties Elections

Basic Income Party
Hangul	기본소득당
Hanja	基本所得黨
Revised Romanization	Gibonsodeukdang
McCune–Reischauer	Kibonsodŭktang

History

The Basic Income Party came into existence when the ninth leadership board of the Labor Party led by Yong Hye-in resigned on 15 July.^[5] Before the official founding of the party on 19 January 2020, the Basic Income Party began establishing local chapters of the party across the cities and provinces of South Korea with the catch phrase ₩"600,000 a month for all."^[6][7] The party announced via their Facebook page on 7 November that they reached 5,000 members.^[8] The party officially registered with the National Election Commission on 19 January 2020. The party puts a strong emphasis on that their members are mostly young adults.^[9]

The party joined the Platform Party (party-list of the Democratic Party) on 21 March 2020 for the 2020 South Korean legislative election. Two candidates ran for proportional representation.^[10] Yong Hye-in was elected under the party-list proportional representation. After the election, Yong rejoined the party.

The party declared its support for Jin Kyo-hoon, the candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, in the Gangseo-gu mayor by-election.^[11]

Ideology

As of 2019, the party advocated for the implementation of a ₩600,000 (then roughly equivalent to 500 United States dollars) per month universal basic income for all citizens of South Korea.^[12]

In the March 2022 presidential election the party's candidate, Oh Jun-ho, ran on a policy of a universal basic income of 650,000 South Korean won (then $530) a month for all adults in South Korea.^[13]

Although the party has no official ideology, it and its former leader, Shin Ji-hye, have been described as socially liberal, advocating feminism and LGBT rights and seeking to improve the social safety net and remedy social disadvantages.^[2][14]

Election results

President

Election	Candidate	Votes	%	Result
2022	Oh Jun-ho	18,105	0.05	Not elected

Legislature

Election	Leader	Constituency				Party list				Seats		Position	Status
		Votes	%	Seats	+/-	Votes	%	Seats	+/-	No.	+/–
2020	Park Gi-hong	4,658	0.0	0 / 253	new					0 / 300	new	36th	Extra-parliamentary

Election	Location	Candidate	Votes	%	Place	Result
2020 Parliamentary	Eunpyeong B, Seoul	Shin Min-ju	2,600	1.89%	4th	Loss
2020 Parliamentary	Goyang D, Gyeonggi Province	Shin Ji-hye	2,058	1.28%	4th	Loss
2021 Seoul Mayor	Seoul, citywide	Shin Ji-hye	23,628	0.48	5th	Loss
2022 Daegu Mayor	Daegu, citywide	Shin Won-ho	7,542	0.87%	4 of 4	Loss
2022 Incheon Mayor	Incheon, citywide	Kim Han-byeol	6,079	0.5	4th	Loss
2022 Gwangju Mayor	Gwangju, citywide	Moon Hyeon-cheol	3,344	0.75	5th	Loss
2022 Gyeonggi Governor	Gyeonggi, Provincial	Seo Tae-seong	9,314	0.16	6th	Loss

See also

• Cultural liberalism

References

1. 2022년도 정당의 활동개황. www.nec.go.kr (in Korean). p. 13. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
2. "South Koreans are unhappy with the pace of political change". The Economist. 8 April 2020. ...In the election she is running as a candidate for the Basic Income Party, a small outfit with a socially liberal agenda advocating feminism and gay rights alongside its main...
3. 한국 최초 '원이슈 정당' 기본소득당 창당 발기인 대회 (South Korea's first 'one-issue political party,' the promoter of the foundation of the Basic Income Party.). Ohmynews. 9 September 2019.
4. ""Same meaning as the anti-imperialist coalition" "Trick in the 3rd zone" [민주, '꼼수 위성정당' 회귀]". World's News Now. 5 February 2024. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
5. "[9기 대표단 마지막 편지] 노동당 혁신의 걸음을 멈춥니다. - 노동당 :: 당원게시판". laborparty.kr (in Korean). Archived from the original on 7 April 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
6. 창당 나선 기본소득당 "모두에게 60만원을". Media Today (in Korean). 10 September 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
7. "전 국민에게 매달 60만원 지급…20대 힘으로 세상 바꿀 것". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). 16 November 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
8. 기본소득당. www.facebook.com. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
9. "모두에게 월 60만원"… 평균 연령 28세 '기본소득당' 창당. Women News [ko] (in Korean). 22 January 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
10. 기본소득당 "더불어시민당 참여 확정, 비례후보 2명 내기로". Hankook Ilbo (in Korean). 21 March 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
11. 사회민주당. 사회민주당.
12. 조, 정호 (18 December 2019). 기본소득당 21일 부산 창당…전 국민 월 60만원 지급 공약. Yonhap News Agency (in Korean). Retrieved 15 April 2020.
13. "The also-rans: South Korea's long-shot presidential candidates". France 24. 7 March 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
14. "Minor Seoul mayoral candidates pledge to support women, LGBTQ people". The Korea Herald. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021. Socially liberal politician Shin Ji-hye of the Basic Income Party has pledged to provide a monthly basic income of 250,000 won ($220) for all Seoul citizens to build a better social safety net and remedy social disadvantages.

External links

• Official website