Each Ministry Required to Submit Budget Requests to Population Strategy Committee... 88 Trillion Won Population Budget 'Preliminary Consultation Authority' to Commence Next Year

Preliminary Review of Budget Requests: Fulfilling the Control Tower Role
Expansion to 15 Ministries: Broadening Policy Scope

The Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy (hereafter “the Committee”) has unveiled the core framework for its new ‘preliminary population budget consultation authority’—a key tool for overseeing and coordinating the nation’s population policies and related budget, which amounts to 88 trillion won. This authority will be granted as part of the restructuring and expansion of the committee into the Population Strategy Committee on September 10. The number of government ministries and agencies represented as ex officio members will also rise significantly, from the current nine to fifteen, signaling the start of full-scale adjustments across government-wide population initiatives.

Kim Jino, Vice Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy, is giving opening remarks at a press briefing held on July 8 at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Cabinet has approved a complete revision of the Enforcement Decree of the Framework Act on Low Fertility and Ageing Society, which centers on these changes. This is a follow-up measure that clarifies delegated matters in accordance with the Framework Act on Population Strategy promulgated in June and set to take effect on September 10. The title of the enforcement decree has also been changed to the Enforcement Decree of the Framework Act on Population Strategy. The centerpiece is the creation of the ‘preliminary population budget consultation authority,’ which allows the Population Strategy Committee to oversee and coordinate population budgets across ministries—a process that had previously faced criticism for lacking consistency.

According to the enforcement decree, the head of each central administrative agency must submit budget requests for projects included in the population strategy master plan—specifically those requiring expenditures above a certain threshold, as determined after consultation with the Minister of Health and Welfare—to the Population Strategy Committee by May 31 each year, in addition to submitting them to the Ministry of Economy and Budget. The Committee will examine the necessity, appropriateness, and performance indicators of such projects, and facilitate advance consultations and provide input on the prioritization of issues previously siloed within ministries, including housing, employment, care, and balanced regional development. After coordination among ministries, this system will become operational starting January 1 next year.

This ‘preliminary population budget consultation authority’ is expected to grant the Population Strategy Committee real business leadership as the population policy “control tower.” While government spending allocated for low fertility and aging society measures has reached 88.5 trillion won—accounting for 12.6% of the second supplementary budget last year—the Committee has so far lacked the ability to coordinate these funds in advance, prompting criticism that it was a “control tower in name only.” Some observers note that this preliminary consultation authority does not have binding force to compel final budget allocations, but the Committee regards the new formal process—as a first-ever step to gather and coordinate tens of trillions of won in previously fragmented budgets across ministries—as very significant.

The Committee’s standing and authority over government ministries has also been greatly enhanced. The maximum number of committee members will rise from 25 to 40, and central administrative agencies participating as ex officio members will increase dramatically from 9 to 15 ministries. With the Ministry of Justice, which oversees immigration and visa policy, leading the additions, new participants include the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. This broadens the policy scope to cover all aspects of demographic change.

In addition, the Population Strategy Coordination Committee, to be co-chaired by the Minister of Health and Welfare and a secretary appointed by the President, will mediate differences between ministries in advance. Four expert subcommittees—social strategy, economic strategy, coordination and evaluation, and immigrants—will also be established to support specialized responses. Each ministry and major local government must appoint a population policy officer at the level of senior civil servant or higher to ensure effective on-site implementation. Moreover, agencies are legally required to complete a comprehensive annual evaluation of their population policy initiatives and report the results by April 15 of the following year, thereby strengthening post-implementation accountability.

Shin Kkotshiga, Director General of Population Strategy at the Committee, stated, “We will promptly prepare detailed guidelines for preliminary budget consultations as stipulated by the new enforcement decree. The soon-to-be launched Population Strategy Committee will take a proactive and central role as the overall control tower for population policy.”

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