The South Korean government has proposed a budget for next year... of around 604 trillion
won, which is well over half a trillion dollars. It's a record amount, and an increase from
this year of eight-point-three percent. The focus is on helping the economy recover
from the pandemic... and stopping the virus itself.
But it includes a number of other ambitious projects involving next generation technology,...
ranging from the launch of a lunar orbiter to saving an animal species at risk of extinction.
For more, we have our Kim Sung-min in the studio today to tell us about that.
Welcome Sung-min.
Good to be with you Devin.
So, the budget for next year includes several interesting projects, but I think on of the
highlights has to be Korea's first mission to explore the moon, planned for next year.
Right. The government is injecting an additional
17 million U.S. dollars into the project next year,... as South Korea's lunar exploration
mission that has been running since 2016 will finally come to fruition.
The country aims to launch an orbiting spacecraft to conduct a year-long mission to observe
the moon,... hoping that it will provide information that can pave the way for future space exploration
missions.
"Countries like Japan and China are trying a similar approach and KPLO will be a good
chance for South Korea to prove its space technology. First it could show Korea's deep
space satellite technology and its ability to operate it. Also, it's going to be a great
opportunity to build systematic ways of collecting and sharing scientific data with other countries
through cooperation."
That's fascinating. And there were also some other plans that use cutting edge technology,
and these are aimed more at improving people's everyday lives.
You're right Devin. One of them is a project using artificial
intelligence to help people access legal information. Some two million U.S. dollars has been set
aside for this. Not many of us are legal experts but we come
across situations in daily lives where having some knowledge of the law would be handy,...
like in a case of theft or hit-and-run. This system using an AI program can help people
find ( 1)relevant information with much less time and energy ( 2) by simply typing "What
should I do in a hit-and-run?" The government plans to cooperate with private
tech firms and their own AI services like Kakao AI and Naver Clova.
High on the government's agenda also and you could say Korea's been a leader in this is
boosting green growth in the economy. We just heard before that Korea has written its carbon
neutrality goals into law. So what's in the budget in that regard?
Yes. I'm sure we are all familiar with the boom
in electric cars. To encourage such a shift in the transport
industry, some 2-point-6 million dollars will be injected to build 5 recharging stations
for electric trucks. And what's fascinating about this is that
those stations will be equipped with a "wireless" charging system.
This will be very handy for electric delivery trucks because they will be able to charge
in a short period of time.
And speaking of saving the environment,.... there's some good news for animal lovers.
Around 430-thousand dollars will be used to repair an artificial shelter for spotted seals.
Every year,... around 2 to 300 seals living around Baengnyeongdo Island scramble for a
spot on the rocks as they have to spend time on land to adjust their body temperature and
regain strength after giving birth. There is already a 350-square-meter artificial
resting area for them built two years ago but some parts have been damaged due to typhoons.
The project will protect a species that has been seeing its population rapidly fall and
make the Yellow Sea a favorable environment for the seals.
Before you go,... what else in the budget caught your eye, perhaps in the cultural sphere?
Sure, if you have any interest in performing in front of the audience,... whether its jazz,
traditional performance or a play,... currently there's a project called "youth microphone"
project. It provides opportunities for young artists
ages between 19 and 34 to perform and pursue their dreams on the "culture day" the last
Wednesday of every month. And for those of you who are too late for
this project because you're over 60,.... don't worry.
Next year the government plans to create a "silver microphone" project the same exact
format but for those over 60. A total of 100 groups will be selected to
perform five times in total for a year. 1-point-3 million U.S. dollars will be spent
on this plan,.... for holding auditions and preparing the stages.
Thank you for your report today.