On the 30th, President Lee Jae-myung said regarding the budget for the "Startup for All Project," which the government is pushing with the main goal of "discovering 5,000 startup talents and providing national support," that "in the second half, it could be done by drafting a supplementary budget." Led by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the project is an audition-style program in which the state will spend up to 100 billion won from March to December to take responsibility from early startup support to second chances.
That afternoon, at the National Startup Era Strategy Meeting held at Cheong Wa Dae, Lee said, "About 100 billion won once a year seems far too little," adding, "It seems there is probably no secured budget, and perhaps it's because we don't know when the supplementary budget will be, but we can split the spending, and the portion for the second half can be covered by a supplementary budget."
Lee asked, "If we are talking about a 'startup boom' and a 'national startup era,' couldn't we do it (only) once a year so that the first cohort starts in March, the second in May, and the third in July?" In response, Minister Han Seong-sook of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) said, "We considered that structure at the planning stage," and added, "If we do it initially once, it might be possible on a quarterly basis." She also said, "That way, follow-up is possible. If we give frequent experiences of failing briefly and small every three months, they say the startups attempted after two or three times are the most successful." Lee then answered that the second-half budget could be secured through a supplementary budget.
Lee said, "Some of it could be done as projects by public institutions or state-owned enterprises," adding, "There will be various ways, but if it doesn't go well, stopping midway (is the issue)." After receiving a report from Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol on measures to create a startup boom in particular, Lee said, "I can hardly hear anything else, but that expression 'overflowing'—is that for real? Are you going to do it that way?" and added, "Don't be petty and don't dole it out in dribs and drabs."
◇Following culture and arts, successive remarks on the need for a supplementary budget for the delinquency management team
This is the fifth time just this month that Lee has mentioned a "supplementary budget." At a senior secretaries' meeting on the 15th, after hearing policy reports related to culture and arts, Lee said, "We should revive the foundation for culture and arts in a healthy way, even if we have to do a supplementary budget." In response to the president's supplementary budget remark, Cheong Wa Dae said it "was a general statement emphasizing the need to support the culture and arts sector," and added that it had not actually reviewed drafting a supplementary budget.
However, at the Cabinet meeting the next day, Lee also said, "There may be an opportunity to draft a supplementary budget going forward," and added, "Review the culture and arts budget carefully then." At a Ulsan town hall meeting on the 23rd, after listening to on-site concerns that support for culture and arts instructors had decreased, Lee said, "If we get a supplementary budget opportunity, we will increase it significantly from now."
Lee also mentioned the possibility of a supplementary budget for collecting delinquent taxes. At the Cabinet meeting on the 27th, after noting the need to expand staffing for local governments' delinquency management teams, Lee said, "I don't know when it will be, but we won't go the whole year without a supplementary budget," and added, "On the premise of a supplementary budget, please review having the central government provide funds to local governments and later make them whole, including that option."