The budget request document that government ministries submitted secretly every year will now be open to the public. This is the first time since the current budget formulation system was established in 1949. The Ministry of Economy and Finance is preparing guidelines for the criteria for disclosing budget requests. Previously, the government had processed budget requests as confidential, leading to criticisms that it serves as a means to 'sneak in specific budgets' and 'decreases the transparency of budget formulation.'
According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 29th, budget requests are documents that each central government ministry must submit to the Ministry by May 31. They contain the items and expenses for projects that each ministry deems necessary, and the Ministry will adjust the budget scale based on these submissions to prepare the final government budget proposal by September 2. The budget request serves as a 'draft' of the government budget.
◇ The Ministry of Economy and Finance is preparing 'guidelines for disclosing budget requests'
The budget requests submitted by each ministry to the Ministry of Economy and Finance have not been officially disclosed until now. This is because they are classified as government confidential documents. This principle has been consistently maintained since the current budget formulation system was solidified in 1949. The government only discloses the final government budget proposal completed in early September. Given the complex interests involved in the budget, it was determined that making this process public could increase confusion in decision-making.
The recent Supreme Court ruling broke the long-standing principle of the Budget Office. The Supreme Court's first division, led by Chief Justice Shin Suk-hee, ruled on March 27 that the request for information on the budget requests from three civic groups, including 'Stop Tax Theft,' against the Ministry of Economy and Finance was dismissed for not being subject to trial, confirming the lower court's ruling to 'disclose the materials.'
Initially, the Seoul High Court stated, 'Taxpayer money is the most important source of the budget, and there is a significant need to ensure the right of the people to know how their taxes are used in the budget formulation process through this case's information disclosure,' adding that '(disclosing budget requests) would rather prevent indiscriminate budget requests by government ministries and enhance accountability, contributing more to the fairness, objectivity, and transparency of budget formulation.'
◇ 'Only the budget requests from the year the government budget is finalized will be disclosed upon request'
The Ministry of Economy and Finance is reportedly establishing a general principle that 'disclosure of budget requests is possible only for the year in which the government budget has already been finalized.' This means that the budget requests created last year for the 2025 budget can be disclosed, but the budget requests currently under discussion for the 2026 budget cannot be disclosed at this time.
Additionally, the information included in the budget requests is expected to be disclosed partially based on information disclosure requests, rather than being fully open. The Budget Management Division of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, which handles budget formulation work, is currently preparing disclosure criteria centered around information that is not subject to disclosure under the Information Disclosure Act.
A Ministry of Economy and Finance official noted, 'While the basic principle is to disclose information upon request according to the law, exceptions may be possible for sensitive matters such as defense, diplomacy, and security,' explaining that 'considering the spirit of the Supreme Court ruling, it is difficult to keep everything confidential, and we are organizing criteria for each ministry's judgment in this direction.'
For example, the government believes that revealing the quantity and nature of weapon systems or strategic assets, such as the budget for purchasing specific types of tanks, is unavoidable to keep confidential for security reasons. Consequently, the requests from specific ministries such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense, as well as those from general ministries, may also exclude some sensitive items from being disclosed.
The guidelines specifying the criteria and procedures for disclosing budget requests are expected to be finalized by the end of June after internal review. Based on these guidelines, the response for each ministry will be standardized, and subsequently, the appropriate scope of non-disclosure will be applied for each request. Additionally, the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Health and Welfare are also expected to continue discussions to disclose the '2022 budget request for the Ministry of Health and Welfare.'