In 2017, Finland launched its basic income experiment which quickly made headlines around the world.

As part of the project, 2000 unemployed Finns would receive around $690 per month, with no strings attached. Now the project is taking a new direction.

Finland’s government is handing out money every month to unemployed Finns instead of unemployment benefits as part of an experiment to encourage people to start applying for jobs and working. The people included in the project doesn’t have to take part of any programs, such as training or applying for a certain amount of jobs every month. The money is tax-free as well.

Randomly selected by Finland’s social security institution, Kela, 2000 Finns between the age of 25-58 are to partake in the experiment, which began last year. The experiment is now on its second and final year.

The project that has been a real attention grabber internationally, has not yet revealed any official findings other than lower stress level among some participants. Initially, the plan was for the experiment to be expanded by the beginning of 2018, but the Finnish decision-makers are quietly killing the experiment, and taking the project in a new direction.

“Right now, the government is making changes that are taking the system further away from a basic income,” said Miska Simanainen, a researcher at Kela, to Svenska Dagbladet.

With the current unemployment benefits being very favorable, the Finnish government argued that people would rather stay unemployed than go looking for a job, as they might lose more money that way. It was through a vote in December last year that it was decided that instead of the unemployed just being given the money with no strings attached, it will now be on a trial basis of three months, and for the participants who worked less than 18-hours within that period, would lose some of their benefits. 

The researchers at Kela are not very pleased with the new direction of the experiment, “Two years is too short a timeframe to be able to draw extensive solutions from such a vast experiment. We ought to have been given additional time and more money to achieve reliable results,” said professor Olli Kangas, one of the experts behind the basic-income trial, told Finland’s public-service broadcaster YLE. 

Earlier this week, a historical event occurred between North and South Korea.

Kim Jong Un, leader of North Korea, stepped over the DMZ line into South Korea – something that hasn’t happened since the two counties started fighting more than half a century ago.

“A new history starts now. An age of peace, from the starting point of history,” the North Korean leader wrote in a guest book in the South’s Peace House before talks began.

Will peace between these two countries finally happen? While we won’t know for sure until the summit concludes later this week, there is a surprise: Other than North Korea, South Korea, and the United States, there’s a fourth country that’s been helping move these political talks all along. That country is Sweden.

Although you could easily say that Sweden is a friendly country, it’s diplomatic as well. Sweden has one of the longest standing relationships with North Korea, which dates back to when they provided medical support during the start of the war in the 50’s. In 1973 both countries officially entered into a diplomatic agreement and have been working together ever since. Sweden provides humanitarian aid and trades products, such as Volvo automobiles, as one of the main export partners. In fact, Swedish prime minister Göran Persson even visited North Korea in 2001 (the first Western leader in history!) to lead a European Union delegation for talks with then-leader Kim Jong-il.

Why does all of this matter so much? Aside from North Korea being an extremely closed-off country that rarely partners with others, Sweden has a unique position in international diplomacy. That’s because there is a Swedish embassy in North Korea.

There are only 25 embassy countries in North Korea (including China, Russia, Iran, and Brazil), which means that Sweden is often responsible for the affairs of other countries that do not have embassies in the country. Sweden represents consular interests of Australia, Canada, the other Nordic Countries as well as the United States. If a citizen of one of these countries is in trouble, loses their passport, or needs diplomatic advice, they can go to the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, to seek help.

Sweden Helps Shape the Future of North & South Korea Relations

Last week, North Korea Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho arrived in Stockholm to speak with Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom about tensions, nuclear weapons, and even the possibility of peace between North and South Korea.

According to a source, “Sweden underlined the need for North Korea to dismantle its nuclear arms and missiles program in line with several Security Council resolutions.”

The talks in Stockholm had initially been scheduled to conclude on Friday but were extended into the weekend. This is fantastic news because it means that both parties are ironing out agreements and further improving the diplomacy between all countries involved.

“Sweden will continue to do what it can, but it is the protagonists themselves who have to drive the process forward,” the source said.