The supplementary budget bill submitted by the government at 26.2 trillion won ($19.2 billion) has ballooned to approximately 30 trillion won after standing committees of the National Assembly added roughly 3.4 trillion won during their review process. The increase resulted from rampant insertion of so-called "piggyback budget" items at the standing committee stage. The Special Committee on Budget and Accounts has signaled it will trim a significant portion of the additions passed up from the standing committees, but concerns are growing that the original intent of a "debt-free supplementary budget" may be undermined.
According to a tally by the Seoul Economic Daily of increases across the 10 standing committees that reviewed the supplementary budget bill, the total additions reached 3.4 trillion won as of Wednesday. By committee, the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee added 973.9 billion won, the Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee added 610 billion won, the Health and Welfare Committee added 344.6 billion won, and the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee added 270.9 billion won.
The nearly 4 trillion won increase was driven by a spending competition across standing committees led by the Democratic Party of Korea. The budget for the controversial "balcony-type solar panel project," which has faced questions over its effectiveness, was set at 25 billion won in the government's original supplementary budget but expanded 190% to 72.5 billion won after review by the Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee. At the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, which added 270.9 billion won, 20 new projects not included in the government's original plan were added in bulk.
The Special Committee on Budget and Accounts, however, plans to conduct rigorous scrutiny of the increased spending items from the standing committees and cut back a significant portion. "We will respect the opinions of the standing committees, but the Budget Committee will conduct an in-depth review based on the government's original proposal," said Rep. Lee So-young of the Democratic Party.