The government has confirmed that it cut the budget allocated to the nationwide heart investment support project by approximately 10.5 billion won during the 2025 supplementary budget preparation process. Although the total project cost for the nationwide heart investment support project amounts to 800 billion won, it was exempted from preliminary feasibility studies, raising suspicions in the National Assembly that it received preferential treatment because it is a project of Kim Keon-hee.
According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Health and Welfare on the 20th, the government reduced the budget for this year’s heart investment support project (43.355 billion won) by 10.481 billion won during the supplementary budget preparation process. The reduction in the budget amounts to 24% of the main budget. The budget for this year's heart investment support project will be reduced to 32.874 billion won.
A Ministry of Economy and Finance official explained, "Considering the consultation performance and execution rate of the heart investment support project, it was anticipated that unused budgets would occur this year, which is why the budget was cut."
In fact, the execution rate of the project is significantly below the government's plans. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, as of the 15th of this month, approximately 50,000 people have applied to participate in the project, which is only 31% of this year's target of 160,000. If applications continue at the current rate, more than 30% of the existing budget is expected to go unused.
The execution rate of the project was even lower last year. A budget of 47.2 billion won was allocated for the 2024 heart investment support project, but the actual execution amount was only 14.7 billion won. This means the execution rate remained at 31%.
Launched in July of last year, the nationwide heart investment support project provides professional psychological counseling services to citizens experiencing emotional difficulties such as depression and anxiety. The project was set to allocate a total of 789.2 billion won over three years and six months, from July 2024 to 2027.
The Democratic Party and the Rebuilding Korea Party have criticized the policy for being suddenly pushed forward along with Kim Keon-hee's interest.
Mrs. Kim met with a suicide attempt survivor and a rescue police officer in August 2023, stating, "90% of suicides are social killings," emphasizing the need for institutional support. It is reported that President Yoon Suk-yeol also stated during a cabinet meeting that he would systematically take care of national mental health, directing the promotion of the heart investment support project.
Around the same time, the decision for the exemption from the preliminary feasibility study was made just three weeks after the request. The request for exemption reportedly included the phrase "presidential directive." Generally, new projects with total project costs exceeding 50 billion won or financial support exceeding 30 billion won are required to undergo preliminary feasibility studies according to the National Finance Act.
In the face of controversy, the Ministry of Health and Welfare explained, "Korea has the highest suicide rate among OECD countries, and mental health issues have sharply worsened, with increases in cases of depression and anxiety following COVID-19," stating that the urgency and importance of the project were considered due to heightened public anxiety caused by random crimes like the Seohyeon Station incident.
During the review process of the main budget for 2025 last year, the National Assembly also decided to cut the budget for the project. The Ministry of Health and Welfare initially requested 50.83 billion won for the project, but the National Assembly reduced it to 43.355 billion won. At that time, Kim Seon-min, a member of the Rebuilding Korea Party, criticized, "The goal of supporting one million people during the term is a military operation-like plan forced by numbers," stating, "Clearly, this is a project of interest to Mrs. Kim."
Meanwhile, the 'business plan appropriateness review' commissioned by the government to the Korea Institute of Public Finance in September 2023 generated late controversy as the results were released earlier this year. The Korea Institute of Public Finance analyzed that the total project cost for the project is appropriately between 323.1 billion and 524 billion won. This is approximately 265.2 billion to 466.1 billion won less than the originally planned total project cost. As a result, there is a greater possibility that the budget for this project will be allocated less than planned in next year's main budget.