[2026 Parliamentary Audit] Park Soo-young: 94% of Next Year's Future Response Fund Spending Goes to Multiyear Projects... Concern Over "Snowballing Spending"

Park Sooyoung: "They said they were preparing for the future, but are spending on multi-year projects"
The fund allocates 27 trillion won to 67 ongoing projects

Of the Future Response Fund projects planned by the government for actual implementation next year, 94% are multi-year projects that will require funding beyond 2028. Critics say that even if the government launches the projects during its term, the fiscal burden could carry over into the next administration.

An analysis by the office of Rep. Park Sooyoung of the People Power Party, based on the “2027 Future Response Fund Project Explanatory Materials” obtained from the Ministry of Planning and Budget on Oct. 8, found that about 94% of the 45.3862 trillion won in spending next year across 130 projects for actual implementation had been allocated to multi-year projects that will continue to require funding beyond 2028.

Projects scheduled to end next year total 276.63 billion won, just 6.1% of the total. Of the 130 projects, spending on 122 of them, totaling 42.6199 trillion won, will continue beyond 2028. Among these, 67 projects, worth 27.2921 trillion won, were classified as ongoing projects with no end date set. An official from the lawmaker's office said, “About 60% of the amount actually spent has effectively been allocated to projects whose end dates are difficult to predict once they begin.”

Rep. Park Sooyoung of the People Power Party. Courtesy of Rep. Park Sooyoung's office.

Most individual support programs, including the Child Basic Allowance, Youth Future Savings Account, Youth Employment Leap Incentive, Youth Culture and Arts Pass, and childbirth support payments, were also included among the multi-year projects. A total of 798.36 billion won was allocated to 10 direct cash or points-based support programs, including the Youth First Job Support Program, youth rent assistance, marriage support payments, and the Our Child Independence Fund; all were classified as ongoing projects.

The Rural Basic Income pilot program, classified as a single-year project and allocated 116.58 billion won, also carries a note in the materials saying that “a transition to a full-scale program in 2027 will be considered.” Critics say this suggests that spending on it could continue in the future.

The lawmaker's office said the Our Child Independence Fund, which is set to launch next year with a budget of 146.5 billion won, could place a growing burden on the budget because the number of eligible recipients accumulates over time. An estimate based on the government's formula suggests that annual government contributions could reach 700 billion won in 2031 and rise to as much as 2.6 trillion won in 19 years.

Rep. Park said, “The government said it would prepare for the future with excess tax revenue, but in reality, it has tied up 94% of the 45 trillion won in multi-year projects that require annual spending. Once Lee Jae-myung's term ends, the 104 trillion won in surplus funds in the Future Response Fund will have vanished without a trace.”

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