President Lee Emphasizes 'Growth' 36 Times, Adds 'Housing' and Drops 'North Korea'

[Anchor]

Next, we take a deeper look into the contents of today's (November 2) parliamentary budget address. Words such as "growth," "youth," and "housing" particularly stood out.

Reporter Kang Min-u analyzed what has changed compared to last year.

[Reporter]

To begin with, the address was about 22% longer than last year's.

The most frequently mentioned word was "growth," appearing 36 times.

The word "growth" was also used in the slogan defining this budget, though he repeatedly emphasized that it is not a concept opposed to distribution.

[President Lee Jae-myung: "It is a 'growth diffusion budget' that will link national growth to the growth of our people."]

A Cheongwadae official explained that this reflects the intention to overcome polarization and inequality based on sustained economic growth.

Indeed, while "AI investment" received the most emphasis last year, this year, groundbreaking strengthening of livelihood support for vulnerable groups was named as the budget proposal's first key priority.

Along with investments to expand three major mega-projects, AI, and future growth engines, youth support and addressing polarization were set as key investment directions.

Recent public opinion and developments were also reflected in the address.

While housing supply was not mentioned last year, specific figures were added this year, seemingly conscious of public sentiment regarding real estate.

[President Lee Jae-myung: "By increasing public rental housing for young people to 106,000 units and supplying 20,000 units of universal public rental housing..."]

On the other hand, unlike last year, which emphasized efforts to ease inter-Korean military tensions and pursue denuclearization, there was no mention of North Korea at all this time.

Reflecting this, the budget for foreign affairs and unification rose by only 1.1%, falling far below the overall average increase rate of 12.8%.

Just as this year's budget, which placed a strong emphasis on artificial intelligence, provided a tailwind to the AI semiconductor boom, attention is focusing on whether next year's budget proposal emphasizing "growth for all" can serve as a driving force to resolve polarization and inequality.

(Video by Ha Ryung and Yoon Hyeong | Video Editing by Jang Hyun-ki | Graphics by Han Heung-soo and Kim Ye-ji)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.