The National Intelligence Service used about 640 billion won from the government's contingency budget last year. This constitutes approximately 60% of total general contingency expenditures, marking the largest amount ever. The details of the NIS's expenditure are classified as 'Secret Level 2' for national security reasons and are not disclosed. Such 'opaque expenditures' have reportedly increased by around 200 billion won over the past decade.
According to the government's '2024 fiscal year contingency expenditure summary statement' submitted to the National Assembly on 3rd, the NIS executed a total of 638.6 billion won from the general contingency last year.
Contingency funds are budgets prepared by the government within a certain limit to address emergencies not reflected in the main budget. Among these, the 'general contingency' is discretionary funding with no specific usage identified, unlike 'purpose contingencies' with clear expenditures for disasters and emergencies.
Of the total contingency expenditure (1.638 trillion won) spent by the government last year, 1.0796 trillion won was from the general contingency. This means the NIS utilized about 60% of this amount. Adding this to the 824.5 billion won executed from the NIS's official budget (892.1 billion won) that year, the total expenditure of the NIS reaches at least 1.4631 trillion won.
The legal basis for intelligence agencies to utilize contingency funds is the 'Special Act on Budget and Accounting' established when the Central Intelligence Agency was created in 1963. Accordingly, the NIS can execute these funds with only the president's approval. Unlike the official budget subject to the National Assembly Intelligence Committee's review, expenditures like contingency funds do not have to undergo audits by the Board of Audit and Inspection or report procedures to the National Assembly.
The NIS's contingency fund expenditure has steadily increased year by year. Recently, the reasons for allocating contingency funds have also diversified.
Looking at the breakdown of contingency funds used by the NIS last year, 355 billion won was allocated on February 27 for national security support, 142 billion won on May 28 for preventing advanced industrial technology leakage, and 106.5 billion won on August 13 for emergency securing of global raw material supply chains. On December 3, the day of the state of emergency, 106.5 billion won was also allocated for cyber security threat response, but only 34.8 billion won was executed by the end of the year, resulting in 71.7 billion won being unused.
Throughout 2023, the NIS executed a total of 607.2 billion won from contingency funds, which included 516.1 billion won for 'supporting national security activities' and 91.1 billion won for 'securing a global supply chain.' Previously, expenditures for national security activities support included 576.0 billion won in 2022, and 550.0 billion won in both 2021 and 2020, 580.0 billion won in 2019, 567.0 billion won in 2018, 555.9 billion won in 2017, 496.3 billion won in 2016, 455.2 billion won in 2015, and 415.0 billion won in 2014.
The issue is that a massive budget is essentially outside of control. Voices are being raised in politics and civil society for the need for institutional oversight mechanisms.
Jung Chang-soo, director of the National Resource Institute, noted, "There is a need to increase transparency in the NIS's contingency fund execution," emphasizing that "the Intelligence Committee, which is a standing committee of the National Assembly, should at least be informed of the main usage details."
President Lee Jae-myung also stated during his campaign that he would "specify the criteria for contingency fund allocation and improve transparency in their use."