Basic Income Party
The Basic Income Party (BIP; Korean: 기본소득당) is a single-issue 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.
Basic Income Party 기본소득당 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 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 (2023) |  23,271[1] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-left |
| 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 |
| Party flag | |
 | |
| Website | |
basicincomeparty.kr  | |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 기본소득당 |
| Hanja | 基本所得黨 |
| RR | Gibon sodeukdang |
| MR | Kibon sodŭktang |
The Basic Income Party (BIP; Korean: 기본소득당) 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]
History
[edit]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]
During the 2025 South Korean presidential election, the Basic Income Party opted to not run a candidate and instead endorsed Democratic candidate Lee Jae-myung. Upon the victory of Lee, Democratic MP Kang Yoo-jung was appointed as the spokesperson for the presidential office. This allowed Basic Income Party candidate for proportional representation, Choi Hyuk-jin, to assume Kang's seat and Choi entered the National Assembly as the second Member of Parliament for the Basic Income Party. However, Choi announced on his personal Facebook page that he will not return to the Basic Income Party, breaking the election agreement between the Basic Income Party and the Democratic Party. In response, Yong Hye-in, the leader of the Basic Income Party, declared that she would withdraw her nomination for Choi Hyuk-jin and urged his expulsion from the Democratic Party. Choi was sworn in as a Member of Parliament, and subsequently expelled from the Democratic Party (due to the electoral agreement between the parties), thus began sitting as an independent.[12]
Ideology
[edit]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.[13]
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.[14]
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][15] It is also described as centre-left.[16]
Election results
[edit]President
[edit]| Election | Candidate | Votes | % | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Oh Jun-ho | 18,105 | 0.05 | Not elected |
Legislature
[edit]| 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
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "자료공간 | 선거/법규/정당 | 자료공간 | 중앙선거관리위원회". www.nec.go.kr (in Korean). Archived from the original on 26 January 2025. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
- ^ a b "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...
- ^ 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.
- ^ ""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.
- ^ "[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.
- ^ 창당 나선 기본소득당 "모두에게 60만원을". Media Today (in Korean). 10 September 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- ^ "전 국민에게 매달 60만원 지급…20대 힘으로 세상 바꿀 것". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). 16 November 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- ^ 기본소득당. www.facebook.com. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- ^ "모두에게 월 60만원"… 평균 연령 28세 '기본소득당' 창당. 여성신문 (in Korean). 22 January 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- ^ 기본소득당 "더불어시민당 참여 확정, 비례후보 2명 내기로". Hankook Ilbo (in Korean). 21 March 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- ^ 사회민주당. 사회민주당.
- ^ https://n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/629/0000396302?sid=100
- ^ 조, 정호 (18 December 2019). 기본소득당 21일 부산 창당…전 국민 월 60만원 지급 공약. Yonhap News Agency (in Korean). Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- ^ "The also-rans: South Korea's long-shot presidential candidates". France 24. 7 March 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Republic of Korea". Asia Elects. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
