Next Year's Participatory Budget Set at a Record-Breaking 301 Billion Won

Yonhap News Agency

A record-breaking 301 billion won has been allocated to the Participatory Budget program for next year, which enables citizens to take part in the proposal and review of budget-funded projects.

The Ministry of Planning announced that the 2027 Participatory Budget—an increase of 22 times compared to this year's 13.7 billion won—will mark the largest scale since the system was introduced in 2018. The number of supported projects will also triple from 9 this year to 21 next year.

The significant increase in next year’s Participatory Budget is primarily due to a 250 billion won allocation for 'Universal Support for Nationwide Artificial Intelligence (AI) Service Utilization.' Even excluding this, the total is up 37.3 billion won from this year.

The ministry explained that a number of projects closely related to citizens' daily lives have been reflected, such as 'Establishment and Operation of an Online Assembly Reporting System,' 'Operation of National Park Stamp Tours,' and 'Youth-Driven State-Owned Property REdesign Projects.'

Programs for livelihood stabilization, including the 'Job Connection Project' and 'Mid-to-Late Career Support,' as well as climate environment and animal welfare initiatives, such as the 'Pilot Project for Livestock Direct Payments for Animal Welfare' and 'Enhancement of Marine Pollution Control Capacity,' are also included.

According to the ministry, proposals for spending efficiency, newly introduced this year, were partially incorporated into the budget restructuring process, as in the case of 'Adjusting Military Supplies According to Millennials & Gen Z Soldiers’ Preferences to Save the Budget.'

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