Seoul City: "We Will Make Good Use of Supplementary Budget for Maintenance of Aging Sewer Pipelines"

National Funding for Aging Sewer Pipeline Maintenance Reflected
Seoul Requested 115 Billion Won, Only 33.8 Billion Approved

The Seoul Metropolitan Government stated that it would make good use of the budget allocated for the maintenance of aging sewer pipelines, included in the '2025 First Supplementary Budget,' which passed the National Assembly plenary session, for the safety of citizens.

On May 2, Shin Seonjong, spokesperson for the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said in a statement, "The amount of central government funding for the maintenance of aging sewer pipelines requested by the city was partially reflected in the supplementary budget."

Yonhap News

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the proportion of aging sewer pipelines over 30 years old in the city is 55.5% (6,029 km), which is more than twice the national average of 25.9%. Of the 92 cases of ground subsidence that occurred over the past five years, 40 cases have been attributed to aging sewer pipelines.

Until now, Seoul had not received central government funding for the maintenance of aging sewer pipelines due to reasons such as its financial independence. However, following the city's request, a portion was included in this supplementary budget. The city had requested that 1.152 trillion won, which is 30% of the total project cost of 3.843 trillion won for the maintenance of deteriorated sewer pipelines and related precision inspection and technical diagnosis projects, be reflected in the government's supplementary budget. However, during the preliminary review by the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee, the ruling and opposition parties agreed to allocate 768 billion won, which is equivalent to 20% of the total project cost. In the end, only 338 billion won was included in the budget that passed the plenary session.

Spokesperson Shin added, "Although it is disappointing, I would like to emphasize the significance of enabling urgently needed support for the safety of citizens."