Ministry of Interior and Safety sets 2027 budget at 84.7 trillion won, up 10.1 percent from this year; local allocation tax accounts for 77.2 trillion won, project spending 7.1 trillion won

New funding allocated for social solidarity economy, 40th anniversary of June 10 pro-democracy uprising and other initiatives

Local gift vouchers [Yonhap]
Local gift vouchers [Yonhap]

The government plans to allocate 1.45 trillion won ($1.06 billion) to support the issuance of local gift vouchers next year, while 1.16 trillion won will go toward clearing disaster-prone areas.

New budget lines will also cover the migration of public information systems to private cloud infrastructure, the establishment of a social solidarity economy framework, subsidized travel to remote islands and commemorations marking the 40th anniversary of the June 10 pro-democracy uprising.

The Ministry of Interior and Safety announced Wednesday that it had drawn up a 2027 budget proposal of 84.7 trillion won, a 10.1 percent increase from this year's base budget.

Local allocation tax accounts for the largest share at 77.19 trillion won, followed by project spending of 7.06 trillion won and personnel and basic operating costs of 450.3 billion won.

Under the "AI democratic government" initiative, 7 billion won will fund the addition of more than 1,000 new benefit-notification services that proactively inform citizens of government entitlements, while 20.3 billion won will go toward building an AI-integrated civil affairs platform capable of handling inquiries and processing requests through a single window.

Some 271.6 billion won will go toward building dual-operation disaster-recovery systems for key public information systems critical to daily life and public safety, and 54.8 billion won in new funding will support the cloud-based migration of pan-government information systems to strengthen stability and continuity.

An additional 54.2 billion won will be spent on expanding OnAI — an AI tool for civil servants — across the government.

For "public safety," 1.16 trillion won will broaden village-level hazard-clearance support in preparation for climate-related disasters, while 12 billion won will go toward improving the structural safety of facilities in suicide-risk zones within local communities.

Some 43 billion won will support the installation of temporary stormwater retention facilities in low-lying urban areas to prevent flood damage during heavy rainfall.

For "balanced regional growth," 32 billion won will strengthen communities' self-sustaining creative capacity on top of the 1 trillion won in regional depopulation response funds allocated annually from 2022 through 2031. New funding of 44.9 billion won and 2.7 billion won has also been set aside for building a social solidarity economy framework and an integrated social solidarity economy platform, respectively.

The budget for local gift voucher issuance support has been expanded by 300 billion won from this year to 1.45 trillion won, with the aim of stimulating local consumption, drawing more residents and visitors to island communities through travel subsidies and priming regional economic activity.

For "social integration," 189.1 billion won will go toward compensation for victims of the Jeju April 3 Incident, while 1 billion won will fund trauma-healing programs for survivors of the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident and 1.9 billion won will support events marking the 40th anniversary of the June 10 pro-democracy uprising, as part of a broader effort to address historical grievances.

Minister of Interior and Safety Yun Ho-jung said the 2027 budget was built around programs that citizens can directly feel in their daily lives — spanning AI-driven democratic governance, public safety, balanced regional growth and social integration — in pursuit of what he called an "irreplaceable Korea." He added that the ministry would work closely with the National Assembly and the public during the budget deliberation process to ensure the government's proposal is reflected in the final plan.


thlee@heraldcorp.com