President Lee Jae-myung emphasized that, regarding violent crimes, a shift must be made from post-incident response to a preventive system. He stated that he would approach violent crime "with the resolve of declaring war." Although the government's budget proposal has been submitted, discussions on increasing the crime prevention budget are expected to continue in the National Assembly.
According to the Ministry of Planning and Budget and the National Assembly Budget Office, the disaster and safety budget for this year, based on the final budget, is 2,560 trillion won, an increase of 280 trillion won from the previous year. The proportion of the disaster and safety budget relative to total expenditure has been maintained at a level of 3.4% to 3.8% from 2020 to 2026. This year's ratio is 3.5%.
The disaster and safety budget is based on the budgets for disaster and safety projects determined by the Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and Gi Hoek-cheo (Minister), in accordance with the "Basic Act on Disaster and Safety Management." Among the disaster and safety budget, the portion related to crime was 342.1 billion won in 2025 and is 353.5 billion won in 2026.
The crime prevention budget mentioned by President Lee is dispersed across various projects. First, the "Crime Prevention and Maintenance of Public Order" budget under the jurisdiction of the National Police Agency was allocated at a scale of 24.941 billion won based on this year's final budget. Next year, based on the government proposal, it will be 64.11 billion won, an increase of 39.16 billion won (157%) from this year.
The majority of the increased budget is for the operation costs of advanced technology crime prevention patrol equipment (45 billion won). This is a newly established item intended for the introduction of patrol equipment utilizing advanced technologies such as AI and autonomous driving. If it passes the National Assembly's review process, an AI-based autonomous four-wheeled patrol robot will be introduced next year.
The 112 emergency response system is moving toward further advancement. The government has allocated 31.869 billion won for "112 System Operation" in next year's budget. This is an increase of 10.497 billion won (49%) from this year's budget of 21.372 billion won. A representative example is the 13.129 billion won increase in the budget for building the next-generation 112 system.
Regarding electronic ankle monitors, which were associated with recent violent crime cases, the Ministry of Justice's "Electronic Monitoring" budget for next year is 33.38 billion won, a decrease of 3.958 billion won (10.6%) from this year. However, the "Electronic Monitoring System Operation" budget has increased by a net amount of 3.887 billion won, roughly equivalent to the level of the reduction.
The electronic monitoring budget has increased annually: △2023: 30.677 billion won, △2024: 32.427 billion won, △2025: 36.847 billion won, and △2026: 37.226 billion won. However, next year's budget will see a slight decrease even when including the electronic monitoring system operation budget.
The "Proactive Detection of Recidivism Signs and Strengthening Response Capabilities" budget under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice has decreased from 3 billion won this year to 2.6 billion won next year. This budget is invested in a project to develop an AI-based recidivism prediction system to alleviate public anxiety regarding the risk of reoffending by individuals subject to electronic monitoring.
Park Hong-geun, Gi Hoek-cheo (Minister), stated during the National Assembly's audit on the 23rd, "I will carefully examine whether additional budget is needed for crime response."
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