Lee, the Minister of Economy and Finance, said on the 8th, "I will announce a supplementary budget of 10 trillion won early next week." With serious concerns about the impact of the tariff war originating from the United States on the domestic industry and corporations, and the financial and foreign exchange markets being significantly affected, the government has decided to push for a supplementary budget as discussions in the National Assembly regarding the budget are continuously delayed.
On this day, Lee noted during a meeting of economic ministers held at the Government Seoul Office that "the government has proposed a 'necessary supplementary budget' to address urgent issues such as the worst wildfires in history, responding to trade and industrial risks, and supporting livelihoods, and requested the National Assembly to quickly gather opinions on this." He added, "We can no longer delay our crisis response. Support for wildfire damage is urgent, and we cannot just watch as serious damage to our industry and corporations approaches due to unprecedented tariff shocks."
Lee also explained the general framework for preparing the supplementary budget. He stated, "We will focus on the rapid recovery from damage caused by this wildfire and preventing its recurrence," adding, "As soon as the wildfire recovery plan is confirmed, we will secure sufficient resources to commence recovery projects and related works immediately." He continued, "We will also support the expansion of drones for wildfire monitoring, the additional introduction of high-performance helicopters, and the enhancement of the wildfire prevention and suppression system."
Furthermore, Lee stated, "We will support about 3 to 4 trillion won to respond to the rapid changes in the trade environment and enhance AI competitiveness," and commented that they will significantly expand the "tariff response and export voucher" for small- and medium-sized corporations harmed by tariffs, and additionally supply policy financing such as emergency management stabilization funds.
He also emphasized the establishment of investment subsidies for advanced industrial materials, parts, and equipment to stabilize the supply chain of core items, and the expansion of investment subsidies for repatriated and foreign-invested companies. He added, "To foster innovation in the AI ecosystem, we plan to secure more than 10,000 additional high-performance GPUs this year, while actively supporting the recruitment of top talent, including experts in the AI field."
Regarding livelihood stability, he said, "We will invest about 3 to 4 trillion won to support low-income individuals and small businesses." He stated, "To ease the management burden on small business owners, we will expand low-interest policy funds, and will strive to discover projects to enhance the consumption capacity of low-income and vulnerable groups as much as possible."
He revealed, "More specific details of the supplementary budget are scheduled to be finalized this week after consultations with related ministries," and urged the National Assembly to undertake prompt discussions and processing to ensure that we do not miss the golden time to save our industry and corporations.