Special operation expenses for the presidential secretariat have resurfaced as a point of contention in the National Assembly. The People Power Party noted that the details of the special operation expenses disclosed by the Blue House were not transparent, while the Blue House pushed back, saying it had disclosed execution details for the first time under any administration. With the Blue House's special operation expenses expected to be included in next year's budget bill, the ruling and opposition parties are likely to continue a war of nerves over the funds.
According to political circles on the 9th, People Power Party lawmakers raised objections to the execution details of the presidential secretariat's special operation expenses at the settlement of account review subcommittee of the Special Committee on Budget & Accounts held the previous day. The National Assembly demanded that the Blue House disclose the execution details of the special operation expenses to a convincing level and called for "corrections" and "system improvements," citing that some of the funds were used for other purposes. However, the presidential secretariat did not comply with the correction demand.
The first issue was the purpose of spending the special operation expenses. The funds are budget allocations paid to those who carry out state affairs such as intelligence gathering, investigations, and security. Yet, according to the execution results disclosed by the Blue House, special operation expenses were paid to relevant experts or ordinary citizens under the headings of "strengthening national identity and symbolism" and "consoling public hardship and encouraging vulnerable groups." People Power Party lawmakers argued that, in such cases, it would be proper to use general business promotion expenses or specific task expenses.
Yoo Sang-beom of the People Power Party, chair of the settlement of account subcommittee, said, "There is no understanding of the basic concept of how special operation expenses should be used," and added, "If you held a closed-door meeting, you should have used general business promotion expenses, not special operation expenses." Baek Joon-young of the same party also said, "Among the special operation expenses, there is 20 million won listed as expert assistance for strengthening national identity. I don't even know who the expert is, and I don't know what the assistance means."
There was also criticism that the disclosed execution details lacked specificity. In Sept. last year, the Blue House revealed the date and purpose for each item in the "third-quarter 2025 special operation expenses execution details," but in the following quarter it disclosed only the amounts by type. It then reduced the frequency of announcing execution details from "once per quarter" to "once a year." As a result, no special operation expenses execution details have been announced this year. Lee Jong-uk of the People Power Party criticized this as "blind disclosure."
The Blue House emphasized the significance of the "disclosure of special operation expenses execution details" itself. An official at the presidential secretariat said, "We are disclosing the details of the special operation expenses in accordance with personal information disclosure guidelines and precedents," and reiterated noncompliance by adding, "We are already implementing the items requested for correction." Jung Tae-ho of the Democratic Party of Korea also backed the Blue House, saying, "Disclosing the special operation expenses is proactive administration, so is it appropriate to demand corrections?"
The Democratic Party mounted an offensive by demanding submission of supporting documents for special operation expenses during the Yoon Suk-yeol administration and cut the presidential office's special operation expenses entirely in the 2025 budget bill. However, immediately after the launch of the Lee Jae-myung administration, the supplementary budget restored the funds to 4.1 billion won. At the time, Woo Sang-ho, senior presidential secretary for political affairs, said, "It is true that there are various difficulties when it actually comes to running things."