Next Year's Ministry of Industry Budget Confirmed at 11.4 Trillion Won, with Full Cut of Daewang Whale Drilling Budget

National Assembly Approves 2025 Budget
Full 49.7 Billion KRW Cut for Donghae Gas Field Drilling Budget
Funding Reduced for Three Projects Including Korea Mining Industry Promotion Corporation Investment

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's budget and fund operation plan for next year has been finalized at a total of 11.4336 trillion KRW. The budget related to the East Sea deep-sea gas field development project, named 'Daewang Whale,' was completely cut.

On the morning of the 9th, the drilling ship "West Capella," which is verifying whether oil and gas are buried in the promising structure of the East Sea deep-sea gas field, arrived at Namoe Port in Busan. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea National Oil Corporation, the West Capella plans to load materials necessary for drilling for 7 to 8 days from the supply base at Busan New Port. Yonhap News

According to the National Assembly and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the 10th, the opposition parties including the Democratic Party of Korea unilaterally passed next year's budget bill through the plenary session of the National Assembly on the same day.

The entire budget of 49.7 billion KRW proposed by the government for deep-sea gas field exploration and drilling was cut. In addition, budgets related to the investment in the Mining and Resources Corporation and the R&D Innovation Scale loan were cut by 12.5 billion KRW and 2.8 billion KRW respectively. The budget for international energy joint research was also reduced by 2.5 billion KRW. This represents a reduction of 45.3 billion KRW compared to last year's budget.

As a result, disruptions have become inevitable for various projects that the government had planned or was carrying out. In particular, the East Sea deep-sea gas field drilling project has become uncertain whether it can continue, even as the drilling ship West Capella has entered Busan Port, marking the start of full-scale drilling operations.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy stated regarding the finalized budget for next year, "We will make every effort from the beginning of the year to ensure thorough execution and actively work to revitalize our industry and improve its structure."