Plans Underway to Set Next Year’s Budget at 800 Trillion Won

The government plans to formulate next year's national budget on the scale of 800 trillion won. Minister of Planning and Budget Park Honggeun announced at the 2026 National Fiscal Strategy Meeting held at the Blue House Guest House on the 13th that spending would be expanded to a level more than 10% higher than this year's original budget. The government expects next year's national tax revenue to exceed 500 trillion won and reflected an increase in tax revenue driven by the semiconductor market and improved corporate earnings. At the same time, it plans to secure funding by pushing ahead with spending restructuring worth about 50 trillion won, and to allocate it first to major investment areas such as semiconductors, AI data centers, and physical AI. At the meeting, consideration of additional construction of new nuclear power plants and small modular reactors (SMRs) was also officially put on the table. The government explained that, in order to respond to electricity demand and stabilize baseload power sources, it plans to reflect this in the 12th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand after gathering expert opinions and public discussion.