President Lee Jae Myung (fourth from left) on July 13 speaks at the National Fiscal Strategy Meeting at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul. (Cheong Wa Dae)

By Yoo Yeon Gyeong

The national budget for next year will rise over 10% from this year's to push the figure over KRW 800 trillion for the first time.

The Ministry of Planning and Budget on July 13 also announced that public funds will focus on three megaprojects for semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and physical AI. The plan is to develop Yongin, Gyeonggi-do Province, and the southwest Honam (Gwangju and the two Jeolla-do provinces) region as chip hubs, while providing administrative support for Honam including exemptions from preliminary feasibility studies and fast-track licensing.

Policy will also stimulate growth that directly benefits the public. A new future response fund will back the training of 200,000 young professionals, create 300,000 jobs and improve housing stability.

The strengthening of the labor safety net will see expanded employment and worker compensation insurance for platform workers and the launch of a "K-labor" council.

To alleviate fears over fiscal soundness stemming from the large budget increase, restructuring of government spending will include reviews of all public projects from the ground up to achieve fiscal efficiency savings of about KRW 50 trillion, the largest in the country's history.

dusrud21@korea.kr