The budget bill for the ‘High Oil Price Damage Support Payment’, which provides 100,000 to 600,000 won per person to the bottom 70% by income, cleared the National Assembly as originally proposed by the government. Vulnerable groups are expected to receive the support within this month, and the rest in May, in the form of local currency. For K-Pass, a public transit fare rebate service, the budget was increased so that users can receive half-price discounts not only for the existing ‘rebate type’ but also for the ‘flat-rate type’. This reflects adjustments in line with the intent of a ‘wartime supplementary budget’.

The ‘First Supplementary Budget for 2026’ passed by the National Assembly on the 10th kept the size of 26.2 trillion won as in the original government plan. During the Assembly review, 790 billion won was both cut and added across individual programs. While budgets for easing the burden of high oil prices increased, budgets for attracting foreign tourists and for jobs, which the People Power Party had sought to cut, were partially reduced.

The supplementary budget includes, as in the original government plan, 4.8 trillion won for the program to provide the ‘High Oil Price Damage Support Payment’. It provides differential local currency payments of 100,000 to 600,000 won per person to 32.56 million people in the bottom 70% by income. Basic livelihood security recipients will receive 550,000 to 600,000 won; near-poverty and single-parent households will receive 450,000 to 500,000 won; and the remaining in the bottom 70% will receive 100,000 to 250,000 won. Vulnerable groups are expected to receive the support within this month, and the others during May.

The 5 trillion won budget to compensate refiners for losses under the petroleum price cap also passed as in the original government plan. It is the largest item in this supplementary budget.

The K-Pass support budget was increased by 100 billion won to 190 billion won compared with the original government plan. A ‘30,000 won half-price pass’ will be introduced that offers more than a half-off discount on the price of the ‘flat-rate type’, in which users pay a set amount in advance and can use public transit without limit. The original government plan was to apply a 50% discount only to users of the ‘rebate type’, which returns a portion of the amount used, but the scope of eligibility has been expanded. The discount rate will also rise. During off-peak hours, an additional 30 percentage points will be rebated.

The budget to support farmers and fishers was finalized at 300 billion won, up by 200 billion won. A fuel price indexed subsidy for agricultural machinery (52.9 billion won) will be newly created. In addition to the existing heating cost support for facility farms, farmers who use machinery such as power tillers, tractors, and combines have been newly included as eligible. The budget to support purchases of mineral fertilizer was also increased by 7.3 billion won. The budget for fuel price indexed subsidies for tax-exempt diesel for fishers will be increased by 9.4 billion won, and the temporary support for coastal passenger routes that offsets high oil price losses will be expanded by 6.8 billion won.

Support funds to stabilize the supply and demand of naphtha will be increased by an additional 200 billion won to 670 billion won. To ensure stable supplies of petrochemical products, the supported import volume (2.13 million→2.61 million t) and the unit price (USD 304→344 per t) will be raised, and basic petrochemical feedstocks, which are intermediate feedstocks produced from naphtha such as ethylene and benzene, have also been included as eligible.

Budgets related to energy transition and carbon neutrality also increased slightly. The national subsidy program for home solar panels installed on apartment verandas was increased by 12.5 billion won, and the program to distribute an additional 20,000 electric vehicles by 60 billion won. A new program to support equipment for producing eco-friendly volume-based waste bags made with recycled materials (13.8 billion won) was established.

About 790 billion won was cut during the parliamentary deliberations. Reductions of 600 billion won in government policy funds and loans and in contributions to guarantee institutions accounted for the largest share. Job-related budgets also declined. The budget for the National Tomorrow Learning Card program, which provides 3 million to 5 million won in vocational training support over five years to unemployed people and others, was reduced by 100 billion won.

The budget for the ‘Support Project to Revitalize Marketing to Attract Inbound Tourists’, including the foreign tourist ‘Jim Carry’ (5 billion won), which the People Power Party has argued does not fit the intent of the ‘wartime supplementary budget’, was cut by 2.5 billion won out of 30.6 billion won. The budget for movie discount coupons was reduced by 9 billion won out of 36.1 billion won. However, the 213.4 billion won budget for the National Tax Delinquency Management Unit, which the People Power Party had been poised to cut, remained as in the original plan.

The government plans to hold a provisional Cabinet meeting on the 11th to submit and approve the supplementary budget.