The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport set a record-high 69 trillion won for the 2027 budget proposal. That is up 6.2 trillion won from this year's main budget. It increased the budget for dwellings supply by 8.8 trillion won and expanded funding related to Autonomous Driving and demand-responsive transport by about 12 times. In contrast, the social overhead capital (SOC) budget for roads, railways and airports was frozen at this year's level.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) said on the 1st that it set next year's budget proposal at 69 trillion won, up 9.9% from this year's main budget of 62.8 trillion won.
By sector, the social welfare budget rose 14.9% from 41.7 trillion won to 47.9 trillion won. The SOC budget is unchanged from this year at 21.1 trillion won. The general budget fell by 600 billion won from 24.6 trillion won to 24 trillion won, but funds, including the housing & urban fund, increased by 6.8 trillion won from 38.2 trillion won to 45 trillion won.
The biggest increase is in dwellings supply. The related budget will rise 41.5%, from 21.2 trillion won this year to 30 trillion won next year. The government plans to supply 218,000 public dwellings, including 172,000 public rentals and 34,000 public sales. It also newly allocated 620 billion won to supply universal rental dwellings, including those near transit hubs and mid-size units.
Financial support to accelerate groundbreaking for dwellings projects will also be expanded. It newly invests 169.6 billion won in the "residential facility PF loan interest support project," which subsidizes part of the interest when residential facilities with project financing (PF) loans break ground early. It also allocated 100 billion won to "PF anchor REITs," in which the public sector invests capital at an early development stage.
More than half of the universal rental dwellings will be supplied to young people. The budget for monthly rent support for youth was set at 231.9 billion won, up about 100 billion won from this year.
Support for public transportation will also be expanded. The budget for the "Everyone's Card" will be increased from 558 billion won to 865.2 billion won, adding a new youth category. The number of quasi-public management routes for metropolitan buses will be expanded from 267 to 281. The operating budget for disability call taxis will be increased from 54.1 billion won to 97.9 billion won.
In future mobility, the budget related to Autonomous Driving and demand-responsive transport will be increased about 12 times, from 73.1 billion won to 880.1 billion won. The number of Autonomous Driving pilot vehicles will be expanded from 200 to 3,000, and support will be provided to operate driverless demand-responsive transport systems (DRT) in 50 locations nationwide.
The urban air mobility (UAM) budget will rise from 8.2 billion won to 41.9 billion won, and the drone-related budget will increase from 48.2 billion won to 66.8 billion won. It will invest 556 billion won in land and transport research and development. It newly allocated 58.5 billion won for construction physical artificial intelligence (AI) demonstrations and 16.7 billion won for the development of National Land Satellites 3 and 4.
In overseas construction, it plans to create a new strategic fund totaling 3 trillion won by leveraging government finances to draw in private capital.
Although the SOC budget aggregates were frozen, key project budgets were reflected. It allocated 366.2 billion won to the GTX-B line, 445 billion won to the Gangneung–Jejin railway, and 431.1 billion won to the Gadeokdo new airport. It will invest 29.4 billion won in complex regeneration of original downtowns and newly support 3.1 billion won to create three pilot cities for tourism-oriented public transportation.
In safety, it will expand ground survey sections to 5,000 km and push to improve fire safety in piloti-type multifamily dwellings. The number of beneficiaries for devices that prevent pedal misapplication by older drivers will be increased to 4,625 vehicles. The SOC maintenance and management budget will also be expanded from 5.1 trillion won to 5.3 trillion won.
Kim Heon-jeong, Deputy Minister for Planning and Coordination at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), said, "Through strong expenditure restructuring, we reduced wasteful budgets and strengthened investment in projects that the public can feel."