Minister Park Hong-keun pledges swift extra budget, long-term planning and backing for future industries

Planning and Budget Miniter Park Hong-keun speaks during a parliamentary confirmation hearing in Seoul on Monday. (Yonhap)
Planning and Budget Miniter Park Hong-keun speaks during a parliamentary confirmation hearing in Seoul on Monday. (Yonhap)

South Korea’s new Planning and Budget Minister Park Hong-keun on Wednesday cast the newly launched ministry as a “true control tower” for national strategy and fiscal policy, pledging more proactive state spending to support livelihoods and future industries, while tying long-term goals more closely to annual budgets.

“In times of crisis, we need a true control tower that can look further ahead, allocate resources strategically and create value for the country as a whole,” Park said in his inaugural speech. “That is precisely why the Planning Ministry exists.”

Park is South Korea’s first budget minister in 18 years, taking charge of a ministry revived after the government split economic policymaking and budget planning again this year.

A four-term lawmaker, Park is widely regarded as a policy and budget specialist in parliament. He previously chaired the National Assembly’s Special Committee on Budget and Accounts and later served as the Democratic Party of Korea's floor leader, overseeing budget and legislative negotiations.

Park stressed the ministry’s role in setting the country’s long-term direction at a time when Korea faces overlapping structural challenges, from demographic change and climate risks to widening inequality, regional decline and the industrial disruption driven by artificial intelligence.

“Through sophisticated planning that detects even the submerged signs of structural crisis, the ministry will open the main channel of a national future strategy that can fundamentally reshape Korea’s foundations,” he said.

He pledged to establish a 20- to 30-year national blueprint, describing it as the “firm roots” of the country’s future. Those plans, he added, would be linked organically to five-year state agendas, mid-term fiscal plans and annual budgets, ensuring long-range goals are reflected in spending priorities.

The budget minister's fiscal stance pointed to an expansionary approach in line with President Lee Jae Myung administration’s broader policy direction. He laid out what he called “sustainable active fiscal policy,” arguing that government spending should create a virtuous cycle in which growth expands the revenue base.

Park also signaled a swift supplementary budget. “We will promptly draw up and submit a supplementary budget bill to the National Assembly so we can ease the burden on ordinary people suffering from high oil prices,” he said, while citing support for small business owners and young people as near-term spending priorities.

Over the longer run, Park also pledged support for strategic industries including AI, semiconductors and biotechnology, alongside stronger social safety nets.


jwc@heraldcorp.com