South Korea ruling party backs Lee's record 820.9 trillion won budget

Key facts

• President Lee Jae Myung proposed a 2027 budget of 820.9 trillion won, a 12.8 percent increase from this year's budget.
• The proposed increase is the highest growth rate on record, according to the report.
• DP chief spokesperson Park Sung-joon said the party will ensure the budget passes within the legal deadline.
• PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok said Lee made no mention of real estate, the stock market, North Korea or the South Korea-U.S. alliance.
• Lee pledged bold investment in artificial intelligence and other future growth engine industries.

South Korea's ruling Democratic Party on November 2, 2026 welcomed President Lee Jae Myung's budget speech and pledged to pass the government's proposed 2027 budget by the December 2 legal deadline, while the main opposition People Power Party criticized the address.

Lee proposed a record 820.9 trillion won ($614.5 billion) budget for next year, a 12.8 percent increase from this year's budget and the highest growth rate on record, according to the report. In the speech he pledged bold investment in artificial intelligence and other future growth engine industries and called for bipartisan support.

PPP lawmakers staged a rally at the National Assembly ahead of the speech, condemning what they called a budget that disregards national debt. PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok wrote on Facebook that Lee "came, said only what he wanted to say and left," adding that he made no mention of real estate, the stock market, farmland, North Korea, the South Korea-U.S. alliance, public safety or judicial issues. PPP chief spokesperson Park Sung-hoon called the speech "the height of fiscal recklessness" and a declaration seeking to "drain the nation's coffers."

DP chief spokesperson Park Sung-joon said the budget aims to remove the shadows of inequality and polarization and that the party will do its utmost to ensure passage within the legal deadline. DP leader Kim Min-seok wrote on X that the speech presented an "ambitious vision" of transforming South Korea into an "irreplaceable" global leader.