For the first time in constitutional history, a budget reduction bill passed solely by the opposition party passed the National Assembly's plenary session, reducing next year's budget by 4.1 trillion won compared to the government's proposal. Among the 12 sectors, the budgets for defense, health, welfare, employment, and research and development (R&D) were significantly reduced.
According to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance on the 10th, next year's total expenditure was finalized at 673.3 trillion won, down 4.1 trillion won from the government's proposal, while the total revenue was determined at 651.6 trillion won, a decrease of about 3 trillion won.
Looking at the main reduction details by the 12 sectors, the general and local administration budget was cut by 600 billion won, and the health, welfare, employment, and defense budgets were each reduced by 300 billion won. Budgets for culture, sports, tourism, research and development (R&D), industry, SMEs, energy, diplomacy, and unification were also cut by 100 billion won each. This reduction plan was passed as is after being processed solely by the Democratic Party of Korea at the National Assembly's Special Committee on Budget and Accounts on the 29th of last month.
Next year's defense budget was reduced by 340.9 billion won compared to the government's proposal. Soldier personnel expenses were reduced by 64.5 billion won. The reduction was justified by the decrease in military resources and declining enlistment rates. The budget for drug test kits for soldiers requested by the Ministry of National Defense was partially reduced due to concerns over human rights violations.
The budget for the 'integrated counter-drone system' in border areas, aimed at responding to North Korea's drone threats, was also cut. The budget related to the laser anti-aircraft weapon 'Block-I,' promoted by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, was reduced by 570 million won from the 71.2 billion won requested, and the research and development budget for 155mm precision-guided artillery was also reduced by 6.5 billion won.
The social welfare budget was also reduced by 157.1 billion won. The budget for childcare support from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family alone was cut by 38.4 billion won. The budget for the Ministry of Employment and Labor's youth work experience support and small and medium-sized enterprise development were also reduced by 4.6 billion won and 1.5 billion won, respectively.
In the health sector, directly related to public health, the budget for pandemic preparedness vaccine development support and the high-cost R&D investment project (ARPA-H project) were each cut by 3.6 billion won and 6.9 billion won.
The reserve budget for disaster countermeasures, prepared for natural disasters such as heavy snow or rain, was reduced by 1 trillion won, from the existing 2.6 trillion won to 1.6 trillion won. In the field of science and technology, most of the budget for the public-private partnership advanced reactor export foundation construction R&D project was cut, leaving only 700 million won.
The budget for computing support for artificial intelligence (AI) research and the budget for responding to deepfake sex crimes also failed to pass, leading to a reduction across the entire R&D sector. The budget for health insurance membership support (1.6379 trillion won) and the AI research project (321.7 billion won) were not reflected in the budget reduction proposal solely processed by the opposition party.