Basic Income Party

{{Infobox political party

| name = Basic Income Party

| native_name = 기본소득당

| native_name_lang = ko

| logo = Logo of the Basic Income Party.svg{{!}}class=skin-invert

| colorcode = {{Political party data|color}}

| secretary_general = Kwon Eun-hee

| foundation = 19 January 2020

| leader = Yong Hye-in

| leader1_title = Floor Leader

| leader1_name = Yong Hye-in

| leader2_title = Chair of the Policy Planning Committee

| leader2_name = Keum Min

| ideology = {{ublist|class = nowrap

| Universal basic income

| Social liberalism{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/special-report/2020/04/08/south-koreans-are-unhappy-with-the-pace-of-political-change |title=South Koreans are unhappy with the pace of political change |quote=...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...|newspaper=The Economist|date=8 April 2020}}

}}

| membership = {{increase}} 23,271{{Cite web |title=자료공간 {{!}} 선거/법규/정당 {{!}} 자료공간 {{!}} 중앙선거관리위원회 |url=https://www.nec.go.kr/site/nec/ex/bbs/View.do?cbIdx=1129&bcIdx=264630 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250126144833/https://www.nec.go.kr/site/nec/ex/bbs/View.do?cbIdx=1129&bcIdx=264630 |archive-date=2025-01-26 |access-date=2025-05-19 |website=www.nec.go.kr |language=ko}}

| membership_year = 2023

| split = Labor Party

| colors = {{colour box|{{party colour|Basic Income Party}}|border=darkgray}} Mint green
{{color box|#002E32|border=darkgray}} Dark green

| national = {{Nowrap|New Progressive Alliance}}

| flag = Korean Basic Income Party banner.png

| seats1_title = National Assembly

| seats1 = {{Composition bar|2|300|hex={{Political party data|color}}}}

| seats2_title = Municipal mayor and Gubernatorial

| seats2 = {{Composition bar|0|17|hex={{Political party data|color}}}}

| seats3_title = Municipal Mayors

| seats3 = {{Composition bar|0|26|hex={{Political party data|color}}}}

| seats4_title = Local Government

| seats4 = {{Composition bar|0|2988|hex={{Political party data|color}}}}

| country = South Korea

| website = {{Official URL}}

}}

{{Infobox Korean name/auto

|hangul = ^기본_소득당

|hanja = 基本所得黨

}}

The Basic Income Party (BIP; {{Korean|hangul=기본소득당}}) is a single-issue{{cite web|url=http://www.ohmynews.com/NWS_Web/View/at_pg.aspx?CNTN_CD=A0002568813 |script-title=ko: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.) |work=Ohmynews|date=9 September 2019}} 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.{{cite news |date= 5 February 2024 |title= "Same meaning as the anti-imperialist coalition" "Trick in the 3rd zone" [민주, '꼼수 위성정당' 회귀] |url= https://worldsnewsnow.com/same-meaning-as-the-anti-imperialist-coalition-trick-in-the-3rd-zone |work= World's News Now |access-date= 7 February 2024}}

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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.laborparty.kr/bd_member/1778703|title=[9기 대표단 마지막 편지] 노동당 혁신의 걸음을 멈춥니다. - 노동당 :: 당원게시판|website=laborparty.kr|language=ko|access-date=15 April 2020|archive-date=7 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210407034740/http://www.laborparty.kr/bd_member/1778703|url-status=dead}} 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."{{Cite web|url=http://www.mediatoday.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=202289|script-title=ko:창당 나선 기본소득당 "모두에게 60만원을"|date=10 September 2019|website=Media Today|language=ko|access-date=15 April 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://news.joins.com/article/23634022|script-title=ko:"전 국민에게 매달 60만원 지급…20대 힘으로 세상 바꿀 것" |date=16 November 2019|website=JoongAng Ilbo|language=ko|access-date=15 April 2020}} The party announced via their Facebook page on 7 November that they reached 5,000 members.{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/basicincomeparty.kr/posts/146835986685932|script-title=ko:기본소득당|website=www.facebook.com|language=en|access-date=15 April 2020}} 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.{{Cite news|url=http://www.womennews.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=195728|script-title=ko:"모두에게 월 60만원"… 평균 연령 28세 '기본소득당' 창당|date=22 January 2020|newspaper=여성신문|language=ko|access-date=15 April 2020}}

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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hankookilbo.com/News/Read/202003211628327753|script-title=ko:기본소득당 "더불어시민당 참여 확정, 비례후보 2명 내기로"|date=21 March 2020|website=Hankook Ilbo|language=ko|access-date=15 April 2020}} 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.samindang.kr/|script-title=ko:사회민주당|website=사회민주당}}

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 her 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. As of 10 June 2025, Choi has yet to be sworn in as a Member of Parliament, and an expulsion from the Democratic Party before his swearing in would render his succession to Parliament invalid.https://n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/629/0000396302?sid=100

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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20191218122400051|script-title=ko:기본소득당 21일 부산 창당…전 국민 월 60만원 지급 공약|last=조 |first=정호|date=18 December 2019|website=Yonhap News Agency|language=ko|access-date=15 April 2020}}

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.{{cite news |date=7 March 2022 |title=The also-rans: South Korea's long-shot presidential candidates |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220307-the-also-rans-south-korea-s-long-shot-presidential-candidates |work=France 24 |access-date=10 December 2023}}

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.{{cite news|url=http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20210331000852 |title=Minor Seoul mayoral candidates pledge to support women, LGBTQ people |quote= 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. |work=The Korea Herald |date=31 March 2021 |access-date=28 September 2021}}

Election results

=President=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! Election

! Candidate

! Votes

! %

! Result

2022

| Oh Jun-ho

| 18,105

| 0.05

| {{No|Not elected}}

=Legislature=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! rowspan="2" \| Election ! rowspan="2" \| Leader ! colspan="4" \| Constituency ! colspan="4" \| Party list ! colspan="2" \| Seats ! rowspan="2" \| Position ! rowspan="2" \| Status
Votes ! % ! Seats ! +/- ! Votes ! % ! Seats ! +/- ! No. ! +/–
2020 \| Park Gi-hong \| 4,658 \| 0.0 \| {{Composition bar\|0\|253\|hex={{Political party data\|color}}}} \| new \| colspan="4" bgcolor="lightgrey" \| \| {{Composition bar\|0\|300\|hex={{Political party data\|color}}}} \| new \| 36th \| {{No\|Extra-parliamentary}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! rowspan="2" | Election

! rowspan="2" | Leader

! colspan="4" | Constituency

! colspan="4" | Party list

! colspan="2" | Seats

! rowspan="2" | Position

! rowspan="2" | Status

Votes

! %

! Seats

! +/-