[Budget Speech] Yoon: "Protecting the Socially Vulnerable is a Fundamental State Duty"

President Yoon's First Budget Address of New Government... "Includes Thoughts and Solutions for Global Complex Crisis"

President Yoon Suk-yeol is delivering the policy speech on next year's budget at the National Assembly plenary session on the 25th. The Democratic Party of Korea condemned the prosecution's investigation into Daejang-dong as political retaliation and boycotted President Yoon's policy speech. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] President Yoon Suk-yeol emphasized on the 25th that "Protecting socially vulnerable groups who suffer greater hardships during economic difficulties is a fundamental duty of the state." Focused support for the common people and socially vulnerable groups has been a consistent priority for President Yoon since his inauguration, and this policy and philosophy are fully reflected in next year's budget proposal. President Yoon announced that the funds saved by tightening belts starting from the public sector will be invested in these groups and the private-led economic sectors.

In his 2023 budget address at the National Assembly on the morning of the same day, President Yoon explained the background of the budget formulation, saying, "The budget submitted by the government contains comprehensive considerations and plans on how to respond to the global complex crisis and how to resolve livelihood issues."

He particularly assessed the current economic situation as "amid a global trend of high inflation, high interest rates, and a strong dollar, financial market volatility has increased and uncertainty has risen." Based on the judgment that the pain of vulnerable groups and socially disadvantaged people is growing, President Yoon stated, "While pursuing fiscal soundness, we are also striving for 'welfare for the vulnerable' by providing stronger support to the common people and socially disadvantaged groups."

He also presented detailed support measures for these groups. Representative measures include adjusting the standard median income, increasing the maximum amount of livelihood benefits, expanding insurance support targets for low-wage workers, strengthening customized support for persons with disabilities and single-parent families, support for victims of jeonse fraud, and addressing youth housing issues.

Support for the livelihood economy was also included by sector. Expanding energy voucher support, increasing the scale of discount coupons for agricultural, livestock, and fishery products, and expanding public direct payments to small and medium farmers are examples. President Yoon added, "The budget also actively reflects measures to reduce the essential living expenses and grocery burdens of the common people caused by rising living costs."

Furthermore, he reiterated support for advanced strategic industries and science and technology, another area where the saved funds will be used. President Yoon said, "We will concentrate over 1 trillion won in investment for specialized workforce training, research and development, and infrastructure construction to maintain the super-gap in memory semiconductors and secure competitiveness in system semiconductors." He added, "We will also support a total of 4.9 trillion won in R&D investment to secure core strategic technologies and future technology markets such as quantum computing, aerospace, artificial intelligence, and advanced bio."

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