▲ Budget related to the creation of the maritime capital region
Government funding will officially begin flowing starting next year for projects aimed at revitalizing the Arctic shipping route and fostering a maritime capital region centered around Busan, which are key national policy tasks of the current administration.
According to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) today (September 1), the government's budget proposal for 2027, which was approved at the Cabinet meeting earlier in the day, allocated 8.2636 trillion won for budgets under the jurisdiction of the ministry.
This marks a 10.8 percent increase from this year's MOF budget of 7.4583 trillion won.
The year-on-year growth rate is the highest since the ministry was re-established in 2013.
Among next year's MOF budget, 622.8 billion won will be injected into projects for revitalizing the Arctic shipping route and fostering the maritime capital region.
The MOF explained that while this year served as a period to draw the blueprint for the maritime capital region by establishing the "direction for fostering the southern maritime capital region," next year will mark the phase of entering full-scale infrastructure establishment.
A new budget of 12.1 billion won has been arranged for a project supporting the construction of eco-friendly ships targeted at shipping companies relocating to regional areas.
This project is designed to induce corporate relocation to the maritime capital region.
A newly allocated 18.4 billion won will be poured into collecting data related to the test operation of the Arctic shipping route and establishing the foundation for international cooperation.
A new budget of 9.8 billion won has been organized for projects building an ecosystem of industries related to the Arctic shipping route and nurturing future talent to lead advanced marine industries.
Projects to strengthen the competitiveness of the shipping and port industries, which will serve as the center of fostering the maritime capital region, will also be newly established or scaled up.
To lead the autonomous ship market, a new 2.9 billion won project will be established to distribute autonomous navigation systems to national flagships, and the budget for developing fully autonomous navigation technology will be expanded from 6.3 billion won to 15.7 billion won.
To strengthen response capabilities against the supply chain crisis triggered by the Middle East war and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the budget for loss compensation for the stable operation of the national essential fleet will also be expanded from 8.2 billion won to 10.0 billion won.
The national essential fleet refers to national flagships that maintain a smooth maritime transport system for critical goods during national emergencies such as wartime.
Support projects to enhance the competitiveness of the fishery industry and revive the vitality of fishing villages will also be strengthened.
As the "Sustainable Coastal Fisheries Development Act" takes effect next year to reorganize the coastal fishery administration system based on data, a new budget of 105.5 billion won has been arranged to establish a fishery management information system and support loans for fishermen.
The project budget for establishing a marine resource management system for the full-scale introduction of the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) system will be increased from 900 million won to 6.7 billion won.
In line with the new fishery management system, the budget for the "Offshore Fishing Vessel Modernization Fund" for reducing coastal fishing vessels and modernizing and enlarging them will also be increased from 203.7 billion won to 394.0 billion won.
A newly injected 13.5 billion won will go toward creating a related ecosystem, such as designating "K-GIM Leading Zones" to expand seaweed exports and building offshore smart aquaculture farms and onshore leased aquaculture farms.
A dried seaweed stockpiling project to alleviate price burdens of seaweed, a staple side dish for the public, will also be newly established on a scale of 24.2 billion won.
The budget for projects such as establishing smart fishery innovation zones for the "smart transformation of the fishery industry" will be increased from 15.2 billion won to 32.6 billion won, and the scale of smart processing support projects to improve the quality of marine food will also be expanded from 29.4 billion won to 102.0 billion won.
A budget of 9.6 billion won was also newly arranged for the public-management coastal passenger ship system starting next year.
The public-management coastal passenger ship system involves the government directly deploying passenger ships and public institutions operating them, and it will operate on 11 routes next year.
In addition, 5.7 billion won was newly arranged to initiate tasks including the establishment of a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based public waters management system for managing illegal occupancy and use of public waters, which falls under national normalization projects.
To strengthen response capabilities against illegal fishing by Chinese vessels and others, the project budget to replace aging crackdown equipment such as high-speed boats will also be increased from 2.9 billion won to 15.8 billion won.
A project deploying marine debris collection robots to 10 locations will also be newly established on a scale of 3.5 billion won.
(Photo: Provided by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Yonhap News)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.