Anchor: The government has proposed a record 513 trillion won budget for next year, up over nine percent from this year. Spending toward research and development of key technologies saw a sharp surge, while proposed defense spending topped 50 trillion won for the first time. 
Our Bae Joo-yon has the details.

Report: The government on Thursday approved the national budget for next year at a Cabinet meeting held at the presidential office. It will submit the 2020 plan to the National Assembly next Tuesday.

According to the proposal, total spending will increase nine-point-three percent to 513-point-five trillion won, topping the 500 trillion won mark for the first time. The proposed budget growth surpasses nine percent for the second consecutive year for the first time since the 2009 financial crisis.

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, who had earlier stressed the need to implement a "greater and aggressive" fiscal policy, said Thursday that domestic and international uncertainties are driving the expansionary budget.

[Sound bite: South Korean Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki (Korean)]
“When taking into account risk factors both at home and abroad and growing downside risks, the role of finance has become more important than ever for next year.” 

As part of efforts to deal with Japanese trade restrictions, the government allocated 24-point-one trillion won for research and development activities, up 17-point-three percent from a year earlier and the largest such hike in a decade. 

The government earmarked 23-point-nine trillion won to revitalize the private economy, up 27-point-five percent from a year earlier.  

The proposed 2020 budget allocates a plurality of funds towards improving income distribution, expanding social safety nets and increasing the number of jobs with nearly 182 trillion won, up almost 13 percent from this year. Of that total, 25-point-eight trillion won will go towards job creation.

A total of 72-and-a-half trillion won will be spent on education, including free high school nationwide.
 
The budget proposal also includes 22-point-three trillion won to improve roads, railroads and social infrastructure. Four trillion won will be injected to reduce fine dust levels, or twice the amount allocated for such efforts in this year’s budget. 

The defense budget was expanded seven-point-four percent to 50-point-two trillion won, topping 50 trillion won for the first time ever. 

With the latest budget plan, the government expects national debt to account for 40 percent of gross domestic product next year and exceed that mark for the first time the year after. 
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.