As the government has drawn up a 26.2 trillion won supplementary budget (25.2 trillion won in excess tax revenue and 1 trillion won in Government Bonds repayment) to respond to the energy supply crisis and high oil prices stemming from the Middle East war, about 4.2 trillion won appears to have been added during the Special Committee on Budget & Accounts (Special Committee on Budget & Accounts) review at the National Assembly. The funds were inserted as new projects at the final hurdle, the budget committee stage, without going through preliminary reviews by the relevant standing committees. Some of these projects are unrelated to the purpose of the supplementary budget, which is to respond to the Middle East war.
According to ChosunBiz reporting compiled on the 9th, Lee Hun-gi of the Democratic Party of Korea and Choi Hyeong-du of the People Power Party, both members of the National Assembly's budget committee, increased the supplementary budget by 60 billion won under new projects to build broadcast video AI training data and to create an AX innovation foundation. Kang Seung-gyu of the People Power Party added a total of 7 billion won for the new construction of the Hongseong Seobunamdang–Gwang-ri national road and the Yesan Godeok–Dangjin Hapdeok national road, and for construction costs for the Cheonan Seonggeo–Jeonbuk Mokcheon national boulevard. Kang's constituency is Hongseong and Yesan County in South Chungcheong.
Park Hyeong-su, Kim Dae-sik, and Cho Jeong-hoon of the People Power Party increased 300 billion won for a new project, the "special mortgage loan for home purchase." Kim also secured 14.237 billion won at the budget committee for remodeling expenses for aging social welfare centers in permanent rental complexes. The stated aim is to help 2030 young adults buy dwellings and improve the residential environment, but it is likely to face criticism for having little connection to the "war supplementary budget" prompted by the Middle East crisis.
The ruling and opposition parties allocated 10 billion won for a new project to establish "physical artificial intelligence (AI) innovation campuses" in Daegu and Jeonbuk, their respective strongholds, and, during the budget committee process, also funded new projects such as building a future mobility AI software verification system (4 billion won), developing automation technology for assembly processes of wiring harnesses in the home appliance industry (3.6 billion won), and constructing eco-friendly management infrastructure (3.026 billion won).
They also added 12 billion won to build a K-robot physical AI demonstration center in Jeonbuk and conduct verification projects, and 14 billion won to purchase two spare trainsets for the Daegu–Gumi metropolitan railway (Daegyeong Line).
The ruling and opposition parties are holding a review by the budget committee's adjustment subcommittee on the afternoon of the 9th to discuss the supplementary budget bill. The bill is expected to be handled at the plenary session on the 10th after the budget committee's review of cuts and increases.