President Lee Jae Myung is set to deliver a speech on Tuesday outlining the 2026 budget. The government has proposed a record 728 trillion won budget, but partisan disputes raise doubts about passage by the December 2 deadline. Tensions center on expansionary fiscal policies and key initiatives.
President Lee Jae Myung is scheduled to deliver a special address on Tuesday, November 4, outlining the 2026 budget proposal. This marks his second such speech, following one in June for a supplementary budget. The government has proposed a record 728 trillion won (about $508.4 billion) budget for next year, an 8.1 percent increase from this year's allocation. In the speech, the president is expected to call for bipartisan cooperation while emphasizing the need for expansionary fiscal policies to boost sluggish domestic demand and nurture advanced technologies like artificial intelligence amid global trade uncertainties.
The National Assembly’s Special Committee on Budget and Accounts will kick off parliamentary scrutiny with a public hearing on Wednesday. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is committed to passing the Lee administration's first budget, prioritizing support for the president's initiatives such as the AI transition and a 19.3 percent hike in research and development (R&D) funding. The party also plans to defend the 24 trillion won allocation for local gift certificates. A DPK official said, “As this is the first budget under the Lee administration, our aim is to approve it in line with the government’s policy direction.” The official added, “We also intend to preserve funding for programs like the local gift certificates, which the opposition may try to cut.”
The main opposition People Power Party (PPP), however, intends to conduct a thorough review, targeting cuts to what it views as populist spending like consumption vouchers. It highlights concerns over next year's planned 110 trillion won deficit bond issuance, the largest in history, and the financing of the $350 billion investment pledge in U.S.-Korea tariff negotiations, including potential use of public funds like the National Pension Service. A PPP official stated, “We will thoroughly review the budget to eliminate any duplicate or unnecessary items and make decisive cuts where appropriate.”
Both parties agree on prioritizing spending related to people's livelihoods, but disputes over flagship programs like the National Growth Fund and broader fiscal expansion cloud the outlook for passage by the legal deadline of December 2.
