Lee Jae-myung, the president, said on the 4th in a policy speech on next year's budget bill at the National Assembly that "the government has drawn up 2026 total expenditure at 728 trillion won, up 8.1% from this year."

President Lee Jae-myung delivers the government's policy address on the 2026 budget bill at a plenary session of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 4th. /Courtesy of News1

He stressed that "the 2026 budget plan crafted by the government is Korea's first budget to open the AI era."

He explained, "All government budgets are taxes paid by the people, and because each and every person's sweat and tears are imbued in those taxes, we worked to ensure that not a single penny of the budget would be wasted."

He said, "We boldly allocated budgets that are essential to prepare for the future, while drastically cutting budgets that are unnecessary or not urgent."

He added, "Including low-performance, low-efficiency spending, we cut expenditure by an all-time high of 27 trillion won, and we made all details transparent so that the public can properly monitor and exercise their sovereignty."

He continued, "As this is a strategic investment that considers both future growth in the AI era and the sustainability of public finance, I ask for the National Assembly's active cooperation."

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