[Exclusive] Ministry of Economy and Finance's Black Box Budget Request Was Actually Being Disclosed

2015~2024 Ministry of Economy and Finance Document Survey
Identifying 'Budget Requests' Among 20,000 Budget Documents

The scene of the 2024 budget bill passing the National Assembly plenary session on December 21 last year. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The Ministry of Economy and Finance's long-hidden 'budget request documents' have been confirmed to be publicly accessible. Although the ministry refuses to disclose them, citing operational difficulties and even engaging in lawsuits with media outlets and civic groups, in reality, anyone can access these documents. The budget request documents, which are free from any oversight, reveal the Ministry’s budget restructuring processes and methods in full detail. Asia Economy is now disclosing the restructuring details of the Budget Office that have never been revealed before.

On the 29th, Asia Economy investigated all publicly available documents received by the Ministry of Economy and Finance from other ministries between 2015 and 2024 and found 23 budget request documents. Among approximately 20,000 budget-related documents accessible to the public within the ministry’s incoming documents, some budget requests from certain divisions or entire departments were identified. The budget requests obtained by our outlet were prepared by 11 ministries including the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Rural Development Administration, Military Manpower Administration, Korea Coast Guard, Korea Meteorological Administration, Cultural Heritage Administration, and Statistics Korea. [Reference article: [Exclusive] Budget slashed by tens of percent after disobedience... The all-powerful Ministry of Economy and Finance’s Budget Office]

A budget request document is a kind of ‘preliminary draft’ budget that each government ministry sends to the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s Budget Office. The nation’s overall budget process begins each year with the Ministry finalizing the ‘budget formulation guidelines’ by March 31. Afterward, the ministry allocates budget limits to each department as recommendations. Based on this, ministries organize projects for increases or cuts by the end of May and submit their budget requests. Upon receiving these requests, the Ministry of Economy and Finance negotiates to prepare the government’s budget proposal, which then goes through parliamentary review and, once passed in the plenary session, becomes the final budget.

Knowing the budget request documents allows insight into the budget formulation review process, but the Ministry refuses to disclose them. This means it is impossible to know which projects the ministry increased or cut funding for. Even during budget briefings for the media, only the restructuring policy and total amounts are disclosed, while detailed contents remain confidential. Despite this government promoting sound fiscal management as an achievement, the methods and criteria for restructuring have been kept strictly secret.

The main reason for not disclosing the budget request documents is ‘operational difficulties.’ A Budget Office official from the Ministry explained, “If the budget requests from ministries and the government budget proposal are compared, it reveals how much the Ministry cut and which projects were restructured. We worry that if groups disadvantaged by this start filing complaints and expressing dissatisfaction to the Budget Office staff, it could paralyze our work.”

Civic groups argue that budget requests must be disclosed for transparent budget formulation. Related lawsuits are ongoing. In April, the Seoul Administrative Court ruled in a lawsuit filed by media outlets and civic groups that the Ministry must disclose all budget request documents. Citing Article 16-4 of the National Finance Act, which states that efforts must be made to enhance transparency and public participation in the budget process, the court recognized the positive function of disclosing budget requests. The Ministry of Economy and Finance has appealed, and the second trial is currently underway.

Ha Seung-su, chief lawyer of the civic group ‘Catch the Tax Thieves,’ stated, “It might be understandable before the budget is passed, but after final approval by the National Assembly, the entire budget process should be disclosed. From the stage when each ministry submits budget requests to the Ministry’s adjustment process, transparency is necessary for improving our budget system.”

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