The supplementary budget worth 13.8 trillion won passed through the National Assembly general meeting. This amount is 1.6 trillion won more than the supplementary budget submitted by the government. As a result, additional funds will be allocated for artificial intelligence (AI), wildfire disaster support, and social overhead capital (SOC).
The '2025 first supplementary budget' was approved at the National Assembly general meeting with 241 votes for, 6 against, and 25 abstentions out of 272 members present.
The approved supplementary budget increased funds for changes in the trade environment, AI high-tech industry budget, wildfire disaster support budget, and SOC-related budget compared to the government's proposal. Previously, the government proposed a budget of ▲3.2 trillion won for disaster response, ▲4.4 trillion won for trade and AI support, and ▲4.3 trillion won for livelihood support.
The Democratic Party and the People Power Party agreed to increase the budget for ▲regional love gift certificates by 400 billion won, ▲support for disaster-affected areas and discounts on agricultural and fishery products by 200 billion won, and ▲SOC projects such as roads and railways by 800 billion won. In addition, ▲special operation expenses for drug, deepfake, and sexual crime investigations were increased by 50.7 billion won, ▲summer disaster preparedness budget by 30 billion won, ▲Board of Audit and Inspection special operation expenses by 4.5 billion won, ▲national scholarship by 115.7 billion won, and ▲cybersecurity budget by 10.7 billion won.
The budget for regional love gift certificates was set at 400 billion won, which is less than the 1 trillion won emphasized by the Democratic Party. Also, special operation expenses for the prosecution and special operation expenses for the Board of Audit and Inspection, which were completely cut during last year's budget review, were restored.
On the same day, a plan to change the operation of 11 funds, including the lottery fund, Public Capital Management Fund, and Information and Communication Promotion Fund, which passed the budget settlement committee, was also approved. This is to change the plan to use 20% of the fund allocated in the existing budget for consumption promotion regarding the 'livelihood recovery consumption coupon' emphasized by the Democratic Party.
Earlier, the Democratic Party and the People Power Party agreed on the content and approval of the supplementary budget at the National Assembly that morning. Park Chan-dae, acting representative of the Democratic Party and floor leader, said, "This is an urgent supplementary budget to revive the shattered livelihood economy due to wildfires amidst significant political chaos." Kweon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, noted, "We have significantly expanded support to allow affected farmers and small business owners to recover."