Nearly 3 Trillion Won Added to 26 Trillion Won "War Supplementary Budget" by National Assembly Committees

Comprehensive Policy Questions by the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts to Continue Until Tomorrow

As the National Assembly continues its review of the 26 trillion won “war supplementary budget,” nearly 3 trillion won in additional funds have been allocated during preliminary reviews by each standing committee, with increases targeting support for vulnerable groups and the expansion of renewable energy.

On April 7, the Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee approved a revised bill in a plenary session, resulting in a net increase of 609.96 billion won. The budget for the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment was increased by 559.74 billion won, and the budget for the Ministry of Employment and Labor was boosted by 50.22 billion won.

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By project, the energy voucher program—which aims to reduce fuel costs for vulnerable groups—received an additional 6.789 billion won. There were also significant increases in funding for “energy transition” projects, including the supply of zero-emission vehicles such as electric cars (230 billion won), support for home solar power systems (47.5 billion won), and assistance for public institutions in implementing RE100 and related projects (50 billion won).

The Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting and Communications Committee also held a plenary session that day and, led by the Democratic Party, approved a supplementary budget that increased the Ministry of Science and ICT’s budget by 148.7 billion won and the Broadcasting and Media Communications Committee’s budget by 24.665 billion won, for a total increase of 173.365 billion won.

Notably, funding was increased for the Artificial Intelligence (AI) semiconductor demonstration support project (100 billion won), the fast-track digital and AI conversion support project for export/import-related SMEs in crisis (22.9 billion won), and the emergency demonstration of AI services for public safety (15 billion won), among others.

Additional budgets were also assigned, including 4.95 billion won to support TBS operations and 2.267 billion won for the establishment and operation of an information and communication services transparency center.

The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee increased the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s supplementary budget proposal by 198.5 billion won.

To halve the reimbursement threshold for the flat-rate “Everyone’s Card” program under the K-Pass public transportation subsidy policy, an additional 66.6 billion won was allocated. A new budget of 45.938 billion won was also included to provide fuel subsidies for chartered buses.

As of today, the total amount of budget increases during preliminary reviews by standing committees has exceeded 2.6783 trillion won.

This figure combines the increases approved the previous day by four standing committees—the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee; the Health and Welfare Committee; the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee; and the Education Committee (1.69655 trillion won)—with the increases from the three committees (Climate and Labor, Science and Communications, and Land and Infrastructure) approved today.

The Public Administration and Security Committee approved the supplementary budget proposal the previous day but decided to leave the final decision to the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts regarding two versions of the support fund for victims of high oil prices: one maintaining the government’s original 482.52 billion won and another increasing it by 73.98 billion won.

If the increase proposed by the Public Administration and Security Committee is included, the total amount of increased funding would far exceed 3 trillion won. However, some projects have seen reductions, or may be excluded during the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts’ review process.

The Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee reduced 2.5 billion won from the previously increased 30.6 billion won budget for the “Inbound Tourism Marketing Activation Support Project.” The reductions included items such as the mobile easy payment event (400 million won), enhancement of cruise port attractiveness (1.6 billion won), and luggage delivery activation (500 million won). The People Power Party opposed these projects, arguing they were intended for Chinese tourists.

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The People Power Party also opposes the budget for supporting TBS on the grounds that it does not fit the purpose of the “war supplementary budget,” so it is likely to be excluded during the subsequent review process.

Jeong Cheongrae, leader of the Democratic Party, responded to People Power Party leader Jang Donghyuk’s criticism during a “Ruling and Opposition Parties-Government-Livelihood Economy Council” meeting that day, saying, “Our party has agreed that the TBS support project does not match the character of this supplementary budget. We have no intention of pursuing it either.”

In the case of the Planning and Finance Committee, both parties agreed to maintain the government’s proposal for the supplementary budgets under the Ministry of Planning and Budget and the Ministry of Economy and Finance. However, the supplementary budget proposal for the National Tax Service was not approved due to disagreements over increases for the “Establishment of the National Tax and Non-Tax Delinquency Management Team.”

The Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee is expected to review and approve the supplementary budget proposal at a plenary session later tonight.

Starting today, the National Assembly’s Special Committee on Budget and Accounts will begin a full-scale review of the supplementary budget proposal. Comprehensive policy inquiries will be conducted over the next two days, followed by subcommittee reviews on April 9, with the plan to finalize the supplementary budget at the plenary session on April 10.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.