Next Year's Ministry of the Interior and Safety Budget 80.4878 Trillion Won... 1.4 Billion Won for Crowd Management System 구축

352.5 Billion Won Allocated for Local Currency

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 24th that the 2023 budget was finally confirmed at 80.4878 trillion KRW, an increase of 9.823 trillion KRW (↑13.9%) compared to this year, through the National Assembly plenary session resolution. In particular, the project expenses were finalized at 4.8145 trillion KRW, an increase of 415.5 billion KRW compared to the government proposal during the National Assembly budget review process.

After the government budget proposal was submitted to the National Assembly, the Itaewon tragedy occurred, and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety has been negotiating to ensure that the budget for preventing the recurrence of similar accidents is reflected during the National Assembly review process.

After the government budget proposal was submitted to the National Assembly, the Itaewon tragedy occurred, and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety has been negotiating to ensure that the budget for preventing the recurrence of similar accidents is reflected during the National Assembly review process.

As a result, 1.4 billion KRW was added for the establishment of an on-site crowd management system that analyzes and alerts the degree of crowd density, and 400 million KRW was added for joint proficiency training of disaster safety communication network user agencies to facilitate rapid situation transmission at disaster sites.

A new budget of 1.1 billion KRW was allocated to expand safety experience education to enhance safety awareness and culture, and 4.5 billion KRW was newly reflected for conducting a survey on pedestrian environment conditions on back roads.

Many projects for balanced regional development were also increased.

The budget for local love gift certificates, which the Ministry of Strategy and Finance had completely cut but was allocated 352.5 billion KRW at the National Assembly budget review at the request of the Democratic Party of Korea, will be executed with reasonable improvements in usage to align with the purpose of revitalizing the local economy and supporting small business owners. The original budget for local love gift certificates, also known as local currency, was 605.2 billion KRW this year.

To stabilize the lives of residents in special areas restricted from development due to security and geographical factors and to promote balanced regional development, the budget was increased by 39.6 billion KRW for support around U.S. military base areas in Korea, 1.3 billion KRW for comprehensive development support of the West Sea 5 islands, and 1.7 billion KRW for border area development support.

Additionally, 500 million KRW was added for the establishment of a Population Decline Response Center to study policy measures addressing population decline.

The budget for the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s Police Bureau, newly established by the current government, was a key issue during the National Assembly budget review. The government submitted a budget of 209 million KRW for basic expenses and 394 million KRW for personnel expenses for the Police Bureau next year, but the basic expenses were cut by 50% amid disputes over the legality of the Police Bureau in the National Assembly.

Meanwhile, 928 billion KRW was allocated to digital government innovation fields, including the implementation of a digital platform government that provides proactive and customized services to the public and supports scientific state administration based on artificial intelligence and data.

To strengthen proactive safety management focused on prevention and minimize damage caused by disasters, the budget allocated to disaster safety fields, which invests intensively in disaster prevention projects and ensures early stabilization of affected residents in case of disaster occurrence, amounts to 1.1629 trillion KRW. A new budget of 6.8 billion KRW was allocated to establish an automatic response system for roads vulnerable to flooding.

Investments in population decline areas and special situation areas were strengthened to promote balanced regional development and regional economic revitalization, and 2.0459 trillion KRW was allocated to regional economic fields, including projects to stabilize local prices. New budgets of 3.5 billion KRW for island development cooperation projects (prevention of small island abandonment) and 1.5 billion KRW for support of affordable price businesses were reflected.

To continue addressing past issues, 677.7 billion KRW was allocated to fields including past affairs.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety stated, "Based on the 2023 budget confirmed by the National Assembly, we plan to actively carry out national tasks such as implementing the digital platform government, establishing an advanced disaster safety management system, and promoting balanced regional development through thorough project preparation, while executing the 2023 budget early so that the public can quickly feel the results of the projects."

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