Ruling and Opposition Parties Reach Final Agreement on Next Year's Budget... Increased Funding for R&D, Saemangeum, and Local Currency (Comprehensive)

Next Year's Budget Bill to be Processed at 10 AM on the 21st
R&D Budget 600 Billion KRW, Saemangeum 300 Billion KRW, Local Currency 300 Billion KRW Included

The ruling and opposition parties have reached an agreement on next year's budget bill. Through parliamentary review, they reduced 4.2 trillion won from the government’s budget proposal and agreed to increase the budget by a corresponding amount.

On the 20th, the floor leaders of both parties, the secretaries of the National Assembly’s Special Committee on Budget and Accounts, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho met and finalized the budget bill agreement. Instead of processing the budget on the originally scheduled day, they decided to handle it on the 21st at 10 a.m.

According to the bipartisan agreement, the National Assembly will cut 4.2 trillion won from the government’s proposal, and the scale of government bond issuance will not be increased beyond the government’s plan. Since there will be no changes to the government bond issuance scale, the amount of budget increases requested by the National Assembly is expected to be around 4.2 trillion won. However, as the process of increasing the budget by individual projects is ongoing, the specific amounts for increased or reduced projects have not been disclosed.

Yoon Jae-ok, Acting Party Leader of the People Power Party, and Hong Ik-pyo, Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, met on the 20th in the National Assembly Steering Committee Chairman's office to reach a final agreement on the 2024 budget. From left to right: Kang Hoon-sik, Democratic Party Budget and Accounts Committee Secretary, Hong Ik-pyo, Floor Leader, Yoon Jae-ok, Acting Party Leader of the People Power Party, Choo Kyung-ho, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy, Song Eon-seok, People Power Party Budget and Accounts Committee Secretary. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Song Eon-seok, the People Power Party’s secretary of the Budget and Accounts Committee, said in a Q&A with reporters, "We will reduce 4.2 trillion won from the total expenditure and reflect individual projects to increase the budget by as close to 4.2 trillion won as possible. If the full increase is not achieved, it may be somewhat reduced," adding, "Once the final calculations are made, the numbers will be finalized."

For now, the ruling and opposition parties have only disclosed a plan to increase the budget by 1.2 trillion won. According to the agreement, the research and development (R&D) budget will be increased by 600 billion won to resolve employment insecurity among field researchers, strengthen research on next-generation core technologies, and support the latest and high-performance research equipment.

Regarding Saemangeum, the budget for projects supporting smooth business activities of resident companies and attracting private investment will be increased by 300 billion won. Additionally, a budget of 300 billion won will be allocated to support the issuance of local love gift certificates.

According to the agreement, some of the Democratic Party’s demands appear to have been partially reflected. The increase in the R&D budget, the Saemangeum-related budget requested by the Jeonbuk region, and the local love gift certificate budget, which was called the budget of Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, all show this. Kang Hoon-sik, the Democratic Party’s secretary, also evaluated the negotiations as "well conducted."

Regarding the budget agreement, Yoon Jae-ok, acting leader of the People Power Party and floor leader, said, "Although there were difficulties in the budget agreement process, considering that the legal deadline has already passed and the livelihood of the people and the national economy, we could no longer delay. With a desperate mindset, both parties made mutual concessions and compromises to reach today’s budget agreement."

Hong Ik-pyo, the Democratic Party floor leader, said about the budget agreement, "From the opposition party’s perspective, there are some regrets, but it is meaningful that both parties did their best," and added, "I am grateful that Floor Leader Yoon demonstrated various political skills in the final stages of the negotiations."

With the general agreement on the budget bill, the increase in individual projects will be carried out based on the agreed reduction plan. The overall scale of budget projects is expected to be disclosed once the Ministry of Economy and Finance completes the sheet work (detailed budget statement work).