South Korea’s Lee Flags Possible Second Extra Budget Amid Slow GPU Procurement

Mentions need to bolster funding at presidential strategy meeting

Second supplementary budget could be discussed if tax revenue tops forecasts

President Lee Jae-myung said on June 26 that South Korea may consider a second supplementary budget in connection with efforts to secure more graphics processing units, or GPUs.

After receiving a report on domestic GPU supplies at a strategy meeting at the presidential office on fostering innovative companies in future security industries, Lee said demand for GPUs would continue to grow. He added that while it was unclear whether the government would draw up an extra budget, additional fiscal resources appeared to be emerging and may need to be used to reinforce funding.

Lee also questioned the pace of GPU procurement. He said it was moving too slowly and noted that the Gwangju National Computing Center was not being properly utilized because of system problems. He suggested that any future supplementary budget should also reflect funding needs related to GPU procurement.

Political circles are also weighing the possibility that discussions over a second extra budget could continue separately from next year’s budget proposal if a semiconductor boom generates tax revenue above forecasts this year.

Lee had already raised the possibility of injecting additional fiscal resources at a Cabinet meeting on June 23. At the time, he said that if excess tax revenue is generated from semiconductors and related industries, cutting fuel taxes would not place a major burden on public finances and could help increase spending capacity for ordinary households.

He also referred to the need for a supplementary budget while discussing ways to ease cost-of-living pressures on lower-income households. Lee said there was currently no funding available to add income support measures for ordinary citizens.

Lee Jung-woo, Hankyung.com reporter krse9059@hankyung.com