Ahead of the June 3 local elections, ruling and opposition party candidates are rolling out a series of "cash handout pledges" promising to pay residents anywhere from 100,000 to 1 million won each. Critics say populist vote-buying aimed at winning support is crossing the line.
According to political circles on the 19th, cash-handout pledges are pouring out from candidates running in local government head elections across the country, regardless of party. The amounts and justifications differ slightly, but the essence of handing out cash remains the same. Choo Mi-ae, the Democratic Party's candidate for Gyeonggi Province governor, pledged to give 1 million won as a marriage support allowance to newlywed couples (300 pairs per year) who use public wedding halls. Park Chan-dae, the Democratic Party's candidate for Incheon mayor, promised to sharply raise the regional currency "Eeum Card" to 1 million won per month (up from 300,000 won) for three months after taking office.
Kim Young-il, a Democratic Party preliminary candidate for mayor of Gunsan in North Jeolla Province, has pledged to pay a total of 1 million won over four years as a livelihood economy stimulus grant. Gunsan's fiscal self-reliance rate stands at 17%, falling short of even the average for North Jeolla (23.5%), which ranks lowest among metropolitan governments.
In the People Power Party, cash distribution is mainly being used as a "defense strategy" by incumbent local government heads. South Gyeongsang Province Governor Park Wan-su decided to organize a provincial supplementary budget to pay 100,000 won per person as a provincial residents' livelihood support grant. Goseong County in South Gyeongsang plans to give each resident 300,000 won (in regional currency), while Sancheong County will provide 200,000 won per person as livelihood stability grants. All of these are additional payments on top of the government's high oil price damage support funds.
Analysts say the trend is spreading because President Lee Jae-myung reaped significant political benefits from universal support payments during his time as Seongnam mayor and Gyeonggi governor, and since public response to livelihood support funds has been favorable, politicians are rushing to emulate the approach.
Mega-scale social overhead capital (SOC) pledges that repeat every election season also persist. Representative examples include domed stadiums riding on the enthusiasm for professional baseball and K-pop, as well as efforts to attract massive K-pop performance venues. The outdated practice of rolling out flashy blueprints without reviewing funding plans or business feasibility is once again being repeated.
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