Government Appropriates 450 Billion Won for North Korean Aid

The Unification Ministry has decided to fund 450 billion won in North Korean aid using money raised by issuing national bonds.

The Unification Ministry announced that it would appropriate 450 billion won from Public Fund Management Reserves raised by issuing national bonds in order to secure money for the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund in the fund’s management plan for 2006 submitted to the Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee (UFTC) of the National Assembly yesterday.

The Ministry originally planned to secure a total of 1.1 trillion won for the 2006 Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund from the government’s budget, and submitted related budget bills to the National Assembly, but decided to appropriate 450 billion won instead by issuing national bonds after the UFTC curtailed the government’s budget to 650 billion won in the process of deliberating the bill.

However, some say that the Unification Ministry’s plan to obtain funds it originally planned, not adjusting the scale of its expenses, by issuing national bonds is not proper.

The Public Fund Management funds the Unification Ministry decided to appropriate for the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund had originally been intended for business loans and liquidation measures for the Shinpo light-water reactors. Currently, this fund totals 1.75 trillion won.

taewon_ha@donga.com