[Budget Focus] Controversy Over "Everyone Allocating AI Budgets"... Special Committee Launches Comprehensive Review

Request for Breakdown of AI Budgets by Ministry
Chairman Han Byungdo Instructs Ministry of Economy and Finance to Submit Details

As budgets related to artificial intelligence (AI) are being allocated by each government ministry in a mushrooming manner, the National Assembly Special Committee on Budget and Accounts' Subcommittee on Budget Adjustment has begun a comprehensive review. With every ministry's budget now including items such as AI and AI Transformation (AX), the committee plans to examine their appropriateness and identify any overlaps.

According to the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts on the 18th, Han Byungdo, Chairman of the Special Committee and a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, has instructed the Ministry of Economy and Finance to compile and submit to the committee a breakdown of AI-related budgets by ministry.

Previously, Assemblyman Cho Jeonghun of the People Power Party, during the review of the Ministry of Science and ICT's budget, stated, "The Ministry of Economy and Finance should aggregate the total amount of AI and AX budgets by ministry, and we (the budget subcommittee) must review the big picture to determine whether these allocations are appropriate and not overlapping." This was in response to the repeated appearance of AI and AX-related items during the government's budget review process. Assemblyman Cho further pointed out, "Every ministry has funds worth hundreds of billions or even trillions of won related to AI. The overlap is so extensive that, rather than the amount itself, the segmentation could result in the government operating dozens of separate funds."

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As all related budgets were consecutively moved to "on hold" status for further review, Assemblyman Noh Jongmyeon of the Democratic Party of Korea suggested during the proceedings, "Since all AI and AX budgets are being put on hold, why not review them collectively once the materials are ready, and skip individual reviews for now?"

Handing Out Money vs. Unavoidable Investment

Concerns about budget waste have been raised due to the indiscriminate and disorganized allocation of AI-related budgets. Assemblyman Choi Hyungdoo of the People Power Party remarked, "I was also on the budget subcommittee during the COVID-19 period. At that time, the Ministry of Employment and Labor had a budget for fostering AI talent, but the ruling party claimed it was just handing out money to college students. Where did all that go?"

In response, Chairman Han emphasized the necessity of the related budgets despite concerns over waste. He said, "When Korea first promoted itself as an internet powerhouse, people thought it was crazy. There was even greater social controversy over investing in the internet than there is now over AI and AX, with people questioning why we should invest without even understanding the concept. But what made Korea strong today was becoming an internet powerhouse. Overcoming controversy and adapting was the strength of Korea." He explained that despite concerns over waste, some investments are unavoidable.

The government also introduced that it had previously reviewed so-called "AI washing," where existing projects are repackaged as new initiatives simply by attaching the AI label. An official from the Ministry of Economy and Finance said, "With assistance from the Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP), we filtered out AI washing budgets and organized projects with overlapping concerns, and the results are reflected in the government's AI budget proposal. Moving forward, the newly established National AI Strategy Committee will thoroughly examine and prevent wasteful and overlapping budget execution in this area."

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