Busan City Sets 15.6998 Trillion Won Budget for Next Year... 2.43% Increase from This Year

Busan City announced on the 9th that it has prepared the 2024 main budget plan amounting to 15.6998 trillion KRW, an increase of 2.43% compared to the previous year.

Next year's budget is focused on four key areas: ▲Happier Citizens ▲Vibrant Local Economy ▲Sustainable Tomorrow ▲Global Hub City Busan.

Additionally, inefficient funds and other special accounts will be consolidated or abolished (2 abolished, 2 consolidated), fiscal project performance evaluations will be strengthened, and local bonds will be issued in amounts less than the scheduled 2024 repayments to maintain a sound fiscal policy.

▲ First, the city allocated 4.8339 trillion KRW for social welfare policies to create ‘Happier Citizens.’

For socially vulnerable groups, support will be provided to improve basic living standards and deliver welfare that is highly responsive to demand. The four major social safety nets will be further strengthened, including easing eligibility for livelihood benefits, and quality of life improvements will focus on expanding integrated cultural vouchers and sports class vouchers.

Busan will be the first in the nation to provide free meals for the disabled (600 people at 17 disabled welfare centers), expand oral health clinics (2 locations), increase special transportation services for the disabled (Duribal), and add drivers, providing meticulous welfare support across daily life.

Efforts will also be made to increase basic pensions for stable old age, expand senior job opportunities to provide social activity chances and vibrant retirement, and raise wages. The ‘Busan-type Integrated Care’ will offer seamless care by adding ‘post-discharge patient care’ and ‘hospital accompaniment’ to ‘care, housekeeping, and meals.’

To reduce citizens’ transportation costs and promote public transit use, the ‘Integrated Public Transportation Discount System’ and ‘Free Public Transportation for Children’ will be implemented. New care services for middle-aged adults requiring care and interest support for monthly and lease loans for victims of rental fraud will provide gap-free and seamless care.

Furthermore, two new ‘24-hour Pediatric Emergency Hospitals’ will be established, the ‘Moonlight Children’s Hospital’ will be expanded (to 4 locations), and ‘Pediatric and Adolescent Resident Support’ will be newly introduced to address medical gaps in pediatric emergency care by expanding personnel and hospitals.

To ensure children’s safety, a boundaryless cooperation system will be established to improve 90 ‘Children’s School Routes’ and strengthen prevention systems against random and abnormal motive crimes.

▲ The city allocated 287.3 billion KRW for a vibrant local economy.

To alleviate interest burdens on small business owners amid the complex crisis caused by the three major shocks, interest subsidy funds will be provided, and financial consulting will be supported to prevent the recent surge in small business guarantee accidents and assist credit recovery.

Regardless of national funding, the city will invest 50 billion KRW to provide uninterrupted Dongbaekjeon incentives and strengthen small business competitiveness through modernization of traditional market facilities, total customized management solutions from industry specialization to branding for bustling alley markets and traditional markets.

To create good jobs, the city will enhance investment attraction competitiveness, attract companies, and support stable management of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to stabilize employment.

To resolve SME labor shortages and job mismatches, new projects such as the ‘Busan-type Senior Suitable Job Recruitment Support Project’ and ‘Busan 4050 Employment Promotion Support Project’ will be launched to simultaneously support SME employment stability and citizen job creation.

As key drivers and potential of future economic innovation, 2,545 digital convergence creative talents will be nurtured, and an innovation cluster linking the innovation city and existing industrial complexes will be created to concentrate and foster future new industries such as aviation, drones, power semiconductors, and data industries, accelerating Busan’s future economic innovation.

▲ Busan City will invest 950.9 billion KRW for ‘Sustainable Tomorrow,’ including childbirth policies where society shares the costs of marriage, childbirth, and child-rearing.

The ‘Lucky 7 House for Newlyweds’ will support 190 households, an increase of 130 from 60 this year, and the ‘Newlywed Housing Loans and Interest Support’ will ease extension requirements.

The income criteria for ‘Infertile Couple Support’ will be abolished so that anyone facing difficulties due to infertility can receive support, and the ‘First Meeting Voucher’ will increase by 1 million KRW from the second child onward, providing a total of 4 million KRW. The ‘Infant Allowance’ will be raised to 1 million KRW for 0-year-olds and 500,000 KRW for 1-year-olds.

A new ‘Two-Child Education Support Point’ will be introduced to ease educational expenses for families with two children, and the ‘School Milk Supply for Two-Child Families,’ which lost national funding, will continue without interruption to strengthen support for two-child families.

Youth policies will be restructured comprehensively to redesign policies that are highly perceptible and impactful, lower support thresholds, and enhance policy effectiveness. In particular, job and housing support will be strengthened to solidify the foundation of youth life.

One hundred companies desired by youth will be identified to provide demand-tailored jobs, and employment support will be offered to 240 youth who have given up job seeking. The ‘Youth Lease Deposit Interest’ criteria will be improved from the previous uniform 40 million KRW income limit to 40 million KRW for youth and 80 million KRW combined for couples, making the standards more realistic.

The ‘Hope Plus Housing’ project will supply 1,569 houses and support 2% interest on construction funds to simultaneously resolve difficulties faced by local construction companies due to the construction market downturn and youth housing issues.

Twenty-one universities and 86 regional innovation institutions in Busan will collaborate to actively reform the university education system linked to regional development tasks. A feasibility study for establishing a ‘Regional Innovation-Centered University Support System’ to discover models for regional and university co-growth will also commence.

Low-carbon smart transportation systems will be established, including demand-responsive autonomous shuttle operations (4 vehicles) and additional bus information displays (78 locations). Future energy industries such as hydrogen ship technology development and hydrogen electric vehicle parts industries will be fostered, and eco-friendly urban infrastructure will be built to promote the use of future energy.

Park Hyung-jun, Mayor of Busan.

▲ Finally, 245 billion KRW was allocated for the global hub city Busan.

Funds will be invested to complete the development plan establishment service for the Gadeokdo Airport Complex City and, based on the results, push for designation as an economic free zone. A strategic plan service to develop the southern gateway airport will also commence, with 6.5 billion KRW invested to lay the foundation for the early opening of the new airport.

374 billion KRW will be invested to create a world-class startup finance city based on global logistics.

Startup infrastructure will be expanded through the creation of a startup fund to promote startup investment, the addition of two urban youth startup residential and complex spaces, and the hosting of the Asia Startup Expo to build an Asian startup network, along with follow-up business projects to match startups and investors.

Support for individual artists’ creative activities, the fundamental nourishment of culture and arts, will be expanded (7.5 billion KRW, with a creative support rate target of 52% by 2027), and one additional living culture center will be established to expand the foundation for citizens’ enjoyment of living culture.

Busan Mayor Park Hyung-jun said, “Although these are more difficult times than ever, we have worked hard to faithfully include in the budget the challenges Busan faces toward becoming a ‘Global Hub City,’ Busan’s hope as a ‘city where people want to live again,’ and the promises made to citizens during the 8th term of the local government.”

He added, “We will use the precious and valuable resources entrusted by citizens frugally to protect their lives and open Busan’s future, and we ask for the active support and cooperation of the city council so that we can open a new future of change and innovation for Busan.”