The National Assembly's budget deliberation process, which should prevent government fiscal waste, is instead driving budget bloat in a troubling reversal. As standing committees recently conducted preliminary reviews of the supplementary budget prepared in response to the Iran war, they reportedly increased the government's proposal of 26.2 trillion won by more than 3 trillion won. This occurred because lawmakers, mindful of voter sentiment ahead of the June 3 local elections, inserted various constituent project requests through "note budgets" and similar mechanisms.
A closer look at the increased spending items reveals an absurd picture. The Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee nearly doubled the budget for balcony solar panel projects — which sparked controversy over wasted subsidies during former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon's tenure — from the government's proposed 25 billion won to 47.5 billion won. The Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee added 28.5 billion won to the national cultural activity support program and inserted a professional sports ticket subsidy program worth 20 billion won. None of these items have any discernible connection to the shock from the Iran war.
The pattern of pushing through local projects suspected of being note budgets takes various forms. Representative examples include the Osong International K-Beauty Academy education facility project (3 billion won) passed by the Health and Welfare Committee, and the Gangjin empty house remodeling project (800 million won) and Gangjin-Goheung agricultural water development project (800 million won) newly inserted by the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee. The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's new additions — the Seoul Metro Line 5 extension to Gimpo-Geomdan basic plan study (700 million won) and the Daegu metropolitan railway additional vehicle procurement support project (14 billion won) — also demand scrutiny from the relevant standing committees as to whether they are truly urgent matters.
One cannot help but suspect that both ruling and opposition parties are stoking taxpayer waste through supplementary budget increases divorced from common sense because they pursue political gain without fearing public scrutiny. If the supplementary budget grows by more than 3 trillion won as the standing committee preliminary reviews suggest, the government will be unable to keep its promise to fund the budget through excess tax revenue without issuing deficit bonds. The government should reflect on the example of former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, who held firm against pressure from both parties demanding consent to budget increases during the February 2022 supplementary budget, and reject populist budgeting. Both ruling and opposition parties must boldly cut the note budgets added at the standing committee stage during the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts' comprehensive review to preserve the original purpose of this "war supplementary budget."