[2023 Budget] '560,000 Households' Agricultural Direct Payment Blind Spots Resolved... 8 Trillion KRW Invested in Regional Development

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Son Seon-hee] The government plans to provide relief to about 560,000 households that did not receive agricultural direct payments between 2017 and 2019. Including this, a total of 8 trillion won worth of regional balanced development budget will be invested next year.

According to the '2023 Budget Plan' announced by the government on the 30th, it includes support measures for agriculture, mountain, and fishing villages as well as regional balanced development. This is an increase of 2 trillion won compared to the 6 trillion won allocated in this year's main budget.

First, to create livable agricultural, mountain, and fishing villages, the government will invest a budget of 5.4 trillion won, about 600 billion won more than this year's 4.8 trillion won. Specifically, 560,000 households that actually cultivated land between 2017 and 2019 but were excluded from support due to the agricultural direct payment performance requirements will be relieved through system reform.

Additionally, a new direct payment of 1.2 million won annually will be established for small-scale fishing households and crew members who were not previously included in the fisheries direct payment target. A total of 47,000 households are expected to benefit.

To improve the living conditions of farmers and fishermen, a new 'Fishing Village Vitality Promotion Project' will be launched with an investment of 44.4 billion won. A budget of 41.5 billion won will also be allocated for rural spatial maintenance.

Along with this, to foster young farmers, the number of recipients for the farming settlement support fund will be doubled from 2,000 to 4,000. One hundred billion won will be invested in support packages for smart farms, housing, and farmland.

For region-led balanced development support, a budget of 2.6 trillion won has been allocated, more than doubling the previous budget of 1.2 trillion won. The special grant budget for responding to local extinction was increased from 800 billion won to 1 trillion won, and local consumption tax also increased, resulting in a net increase of 1.2 trillion won in local financial resources.

An additional 200 billion won budget was allocated for relocating administrative agencies and creating regional specialized growth hubs in fields such as industry, culture, and education. This includes 100 million won for the design cost of installing the President's second office, 900 million won for restructuring innovation cities, 4.4 billion won for two digital innovation hubs, 5 billion won for two research industry promotion complexes, and 7.7 billion won for five regional innovation mega projects.

Meanwhile, to prepare for prolonged inflation, the government allocated 5.5 trillion won in next year's budget for stabilizing living prices. Due to external risks such as the surge in international grain prices caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, 3.9 trillion won will be invested, 400 billion won more than this year, to expand stockpiling of agricultural, livestock, and fishery products and to ease distribution costs. Support will also be provided to farmers and fishermen for purchasing fertilizer and feed to reduce production costs.