South Korea’s National Assembly has begun detailed scrutiny of the government’s roughly 821 trillion won budget proposal after completing a month of parliamentary audits. The review opens with the governing Democratic Party and the opposition People Power Party sharply divided over both the scale of spending and a proposed fund backed by excess semiconductor tax revenue.
The People Power Party has set a target of cutting 134 trillion won, equivalent to about 16 percent of the submitted budget. That figure is a negotiating goal rather than an approved reduction. The party plans to examine 100 projects it considers problematic and has identified presidential office special activity expenses as another possible target.
Much of the dispute centers on the Future Response Fund. The opposition’s restructuring plan includes 104.4 trillion won in available resources associated with the fund. It argues that the arrangement could let the government direct money toward cash-based programs while avoiding detailed parliamentary oversight.
Future Response Fund divides the parties
The Democratic Party says strategic public investment is necessary as countries compete over artificial intelligence and industrial transformation. It describes the budget review as a way to turn government policy into tangible improvements in people’s lives and rejects the proposed large-scale cuts as political agitation. During a budget hearing, its representatives also argued that concentrating public finances only on debt repayment could carry risks.
The Assembly’s Special Committee on Budget and Accounts is expected to conduct comprehensive policy questioning and ministry-level reviews next month. Its budget adjustment subcommittee is then scheduled to begin work on the 16th, when lawmakers will consider increases and reductions for individual programs. The final size of the budget, the Future Response Fund and its allocations may all change during that process.