Government Drafts Record 821 Trillion Won Budget for Next Year, Stash 104 Trillion Won in Reserves

[Anchor]

The government has unveiled its budget proposal for next year. Standing at 820.9 trillion won, the scale is the largest ever, and thanks to additional tax revenues brought on by the semiconductor boom, the increase is also the largest on record. The government has put forward a plan to intensively invest this expanded budget into future industries, youth, and regional areas.

Reporter Kim Beom-joo has the details.

[Reporter]

First, 43.3 trillion won, an increase of over 50% compared to this year, will be injected into the youth sector.

A prime example is the "Our Child Independence Fund," which deposits up to 1.2 million won per year into fund accounts for children from families below a certain income level until they turn 18.

The calculation is that if 2 million won is accumulated every year for 19 years, including funds supported by parents, they can secure a seed money of 70 million won upon reaching adulthood.

1.7 trillion won will be put into the "Youth Future Savings," where the government covers 6% of the installment savings for those aged 19 to 34, and 2.1 trillion won will be injected into the "Soldier Tomorrow Preparation Savings" supporting enlisted personnel.

In addition, newlywed couples getting married will be paid 1 million won in cash, and upon giving birth, 10 million won will be provided for the first child, and up to 20 million won for the third child or more.

[Cho Yong-beom / Vice Minister of Budget and Planning: While it is said that youth preferential policies have been continued every year, they were increased in trickles so the perceived impact was low. This time, we decided to single out youth policies and go all out, to the extent that it might feel excessive, so that people can truly feel it.]

41 trillion won will be allocated to foster advanced strategic industries to develop future growth engines, 21.3 trillion won separately for semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and 117.1 trillion won to support regional areas and vulnerable groups.

To back this investment, the government plans to set aside 162 trillion won from excess tax revenues to newly create a "Future Response Fund."

The plan is to spend 58 trillion won next year on youth and growth engine investments, and then keep the remaining 104 trillion won as a reserve fund in preparation for times when tax revenues fall short.

However, controversies are expected to arise during subsequent deliberation processes over whether this money might be used like a government slush fund and whether the increase in cash support constitutes populist administration.

(Video Editing: Kim Yoon-sung, Design: Lee Ga-jin)

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