Ministry of the Interior and Safety's Budget for Next Year 72.0839 Trillion Won... Cuts Including Police Bureau Expenses

Passage of the 2025 Budget Bill in the National Assembly Plenary Session the Previous Day

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety will prepare next year's policies with a budget of 72.0839 trillion won, reduced by about 3.3 billion won from the budget submitted to the National Assembly. During the National Assembly's review process, the basic expenses for the Police Bureau were completely cut.

According to the National Assembly on the 11th, through the plenary session resolution the day before, next year's Ministry of the Interior and Safety budget was finalized at 72.0839 trillion won. It consists of 67.0385 trillion won in local allocation tax, 4.6362 trillion won in project expenses, and 409.2 billion won in basic expenses and personnel costs.

This is about 3.3 billion won less than the 72.0872 trillion won budget the government submitted to the National Assembly for the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. In the National Assembly Budget and Accounts Committee, opposition party members voted to completely cut 107 million won in basic expenses for the Police Bureau, and this passed through the plenary session.

Former Minister Lee Sang-min expressed concerns about the Budget and Accounts Committee's cut decision, saying there was "no reasonable cause" for cutting the Police Bureau's basic expenses, and that the reduction in special activity expenses would mean "the police would not be able to properly respond to crimes affecting people's livelihoods." However, due to the December 3 emergency martial law and the subsequent 'leadership vacuum,' discussions related to budget restoration did not proceed.

In addition, budgets were cut for digital service opening by 1.9 billion won, AI-based safety report information technology development by 540 million won, administrative informatization support and management coordination by 100 million won, operation of the National Integration Committee by 560 million won, and support and operation for the investigation of forced mobilization during the Japanese colonial period by 50 million won.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that major project budgets were allocated as follows: 1.43 trillion won for the regional economy sector, 1.6681 trillion won for disaster safety, 821.3 billion won for digital government, and 716.9 billion won for social integration.

Jung Young-jun, Director General of Planning and Coordination at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, stated, "Although the budget was partially reduced compared to the government proposal during the National Assembly review process, policies for the safety of the people and their livelihoods must be pursued without wavering. We will thoroughly prepare for execution, including establishing project plans, so that the budget can be promptly disbursed where needed from early 2025, and we will do our best to ensure that the public can feel the results of the policies early."

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