Ministry of Foreign Affairs Budget for Next Year 30.53 Trillion Won, 5.8% Increase

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on the 6th that next year's budget has been finalized at 3.0053 trillion won, an increase of 5.8% from this year.

The budget proposal submitted by the government to the National Assembly was 3.0023 trillion won, but it was passed with an increase of 3 billion won at the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 3rd.

The official development assistance (ODA) budget under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reached 1.1093 trillion won, an increase of 16.7% (158.8 billion won) compared to this year. This is the first time the ODA budget has exceeded 1 trillion won and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' budget has surpassed 3 trillion won.

The ODA budget includes 100 million dollars (118.3 billion won) for the purchase of the 'COVAX AMC,' a mechanism for the advance purchase of COVID-19 vaccines. The COVAX AMC is a mechanism that supplies vaccines to developing countries using funds donated by developed countries.

2 hundred million won was allocated for the operation budget of the Northeast Asia quarantine and health cooperation body.

Amid growing attention to supply chain restructuring following the recent shortage of urea solution, 2.55 billion won was allocated for the establishment of the 'Economic Security Center' (tentative name).

This center will support the economic security task force within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and will be responsible for early detection, comprehensive analysis, and response to current issues.

As the importance of science and technology diplomacy increases, the related budget was increased from 300 million won this year to 800 million won next year.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained, "We plan to expand financial investment and promote related projects to actively participate in global efforts to overcome the worldwide health crisis and to respond to the rapidly changing diplomatic environment, including global supply chain restructuring and major countries' competition for technological hegemony."

Additionally, the emergency support budget for overseas nationals without financial means was expanded to 500 million won, and the budget required for charter flights during overseas crises was increased to 2 billion won.

The International Exchange Fund increased by 2.6 billion won to 68.1 billion won, and the Disease Eradication Fund was increased by 19.6 billion won to 62.4 billion won, respectively.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.