Budget minister vows efforts to devise comprehensive strategy to overcome structural challenges

▲ Budget Minister Park Hong-geun speaks to reporters in his first press conference held at the government complex in Sejong on April 21, 2026, in this photo provided by his office. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

budget minister-press conference

Budget minister vows efforts to devise comprehensive strategy to overcome structural challenges

SEOUL, April 21 (Yonhap) -- The budget ministry will work to devise a comprehensive strategy to overcome structural challenges facing South Korea, including artificial intelligence (AI) transformation and demographic changes, minister Park Hong-keun said Tuesday.

The policymaker made the remarks in his first press conference since becoming the inaugural head of the newly established Ministry of Planning and Budget.

The administration of President Lee Jae Myung newly created the budget ministry in a bid to better push for fiscal reforms aimed at promoting long-term sustainability in South Korea's finances.

The ministry is working to develop short-term and long-term measures to tackle five major structural challenges that the country needs to tackle. These are AI transformation, demographic changes, polarization, carbon neutrality and rural depopulation.

The ministry is also working to boost the efficiency of state budget execution with an aim to "boldly" reduce unnecessary budget and focus more resources into key national projects, Park stressed.

In particular, the ministry is "swiftly" administrating the 26.2 trillion-won (US$17.8 billion) extra budget recently approved by the National Assembly in an effort to mitigate the economic fallout from the ongoing Middle East conflict, he said.

The supplementary budget includes the government's plan to distribute cash assistance to the bottom 70 percent of income earners to help ease the burden from rising oil prices, and financial assistance for export companies facing difficulties due to the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.

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