The National Assembly in Seoul passes a 13.8 trillion-won (US$9.6 billion) extra budget on May 1, 2025. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 1 (Korea Bizwire) — The National Assembly on Thursday passed a 13.8 trillion-won (US$9.6 billion) extra budget aimed at helping disaster response efforts and revitalizing the economy.
The bill was approved in a plenary session after the Democratic Party (DP) and the People Power Party (PPP) added 1.6 trillion won to the 12.2 trillion won proposed by the government.
The extra budget allocates 400 billion won for the issuance of local currency vouchers, which is far less than the 1 trillion won initially pushed by the DP, to help small merchants and the self-employed.
On livelihood spending, 170 billion won was added to provide discounts on agricultural, livestock and fisheries products to stabilize prices, while the budget for university scholarships increased by 115.7 billion won.
Another 30 billion won was earmarked for flood prevention efforts ahead of the summer season.
It also includes the previously cut funds for special activity expenses for the prosecution and the state audit agency.
(Yonhap)
