“Government Should Not Cancel Youth Allowance Project” District Heads in Seoul Oppose Government Position(kyunghyang)

The heads of gus, local districts in Seoul are opposing the central government’s latest move to withdraw the city’s Youth Activities Support Project (Youth Allowance Project) claiming, “It is an unfair infringement of local autonomy.” The city of Seoul decided to respond aggressively to the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s ex officio cancellation of the Youth Allowance Project and to file a lawsuit at the Supreme Court this week.

The Association of Gu Chiefs in Seoul released a joint statement on August 7 and argued, “The government has intentionally adopted a broad interpretation in defining ‘social service’ stipulated in the Social Security Act and is violating the local government’s right to make policy decisions.”

The association said, “It is essentially the sole task of the local government to handle social security related affairs necessary to improve resident welfare,” and called for the welfare ministry to withdraw its cancellation of the project.

The city plans to submit a lawsuit to cancel the welfare ministry’s cancellation and file for an injunction at the Supreme Court as early as this coming 11-12 and to seek a quick ruling if possible. If the Supreme Court recognizes their application for injunction, they will have the grounds for providing the allowance in the second month. The city plans to emphasize the fact that the discussion with the welfare ministry stipulated in the Framework Act on Social Security does not call for an agreement or approval.

Meanwhile, a survey showed that six out of ten Seoul citizens believed that the youth allowance would be helpful to young low-income job seekers. According to the results of an online survey on Seoul’s Youth Activities Support Project, 61.5% of the respondents answered that the youth allowance would help young people with low incomes seek employment, whereas 38.5% answered that it would not help. As for the conflicts between the welfare ministry and the city of Seoul concerning the youth allowance, half (50.3%) of the respondents answered that the central government was intervening excessively. Among the respondents 40.1% said that the latest measure was a natural action taken by the central government.

The latest survey was conducted from July 22 to 25 among 2,495 citizens residing in Seoul registered as the panel for online surveys. The online panel were members whose actual names were verified and among the respondents the percentage of people in their twenties, subject to the Youth Allowance Project, was 13.7%.