1.0522 Trillion Won Invested in Local Gift Certificate Issuance Support... Ministry of the Interior and Safety's Budget for Next Year 57 Trillion Won

Local Allocation Tax of 51.7 Trillion Won... Budget for Regional Economic Revitalization Projects Expanded 2.4 Times
Significant Increase in Disaster and Safety Management Budget... Promotion of Child Traffic Safety and Mobile Driver's License Projects

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] To revitalize the local economy, which has been stagnated due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's budget for next year will increase support for the issuance costs of local love gift certificates. Budgets for preventive disaster and safety management projects and the Digital New Deal have also been increased and newly established, respectively.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the afternoon of the 2nd that the 2021 budget was finally confirmed at a total of 57.4451 trillion won through the National Assembly plenary session resolution.

Among them, the local allocation tax is 51.7547 trillion won, which is reduced by 45.22 billion won (0.9%↓) compared to this year due to the estimated decrease in domestic taxes.

The Ministry's own project budget is 5.3072 trillion won, with an additional 62.28 billion won reflected compared to the government's submitted proposal. It was focused on ▲ preventive disaster and safety management with 1.85 trillion won ▲ Digital New Deal with 1.19 trillion won ▲ revitalization of the local economy with 1.82 trillion won ▲ and realization of an inclusive nation with 90 billion won.

In the disaster and safety management sector, the budget for maintenance of disaster-prone areas such as steep slopes where disasters such as typhoons and heavy rains may occur increased by 84 billion won to 520.5 billion won compared to this year. This includes projects to install early warning systems based on digital sensors in aging and hazardous facilities. The disaster countermeasure fund, which has a contingency nature, was decided at 820 billion won, an increase of 784 billion won from this year.

A new budget of 11.3 billion won was allocated for the establishment of a flood risk notification system in riverside parking lots that automatically sends flood risk alert messages to vehicle owners when parked vehicles are at risk of flooding. The government plans to establish this system in 180 locations by 2022.

Following the revision of the Road Traffic Act (commonly known as the Min-sik Act), the budget for traffic safety facility improvement projects within school zones increased by 74.4 billion won from 176.7 billion won this year to 251.1 billion won next year. Additionally, 2.4 billion won was newly allocated for safety education for 70,000 workers at children's facilities following the enforcement of the Act on the Safety Management of Children (Hae-in Act).

As a new project related to the Digital New Deal, the establishment of a mobile driver's license platform is being promoted. A new budget of 10.1 billion won was allocated for this project next year alone. The Ministry plans to issue five types of identification cards?including driver's licenses, disability registration cards, national merit certificates, youth IDs, and foreigner registration cards?via mobile by 2025.

Additionally, 57 billion won and 11.5 billion won were newly reflected for the transition of administrative and public institution information systems to the cloud and the improvement of 5G work environments, respectively.

The budget to revitalize the local economy, which is struggling due to the impact of COVID-19, has been significantly expanded from 770 billion won this year to 1.05 trillion won next year. As the issuance scale of local love gift certificates expands from 9 trillion won this year to 15 trillion won next year, the support budget for gift certificate issuance costs also increases from 629.8 billion won this year to 1.0522 trillion won next year.

Funds were also allocated for projects to resolve past issues and promote social integration, including 1.4 billion won newly invested in structural reinforcement and preservation/restoration of the former Namyeong-dong Anti-Communist Investigation Office, which is being transformed into the Democracy and Human Rights Memorial Hall. The operating expenses for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, launched to uncover the truth about civilian mass casualties before and after the Korean War, amount to 11.4 billion won.

Minister Jin Young of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said, "We will do our best to ensure that the 2021 Ministry of the Interior and Safety budget prioritizes the safety of the people and helps promote the Korean New Deal and revitalize the local economy."