This budget season, the Democratic Party of Korea is leading a push to cut government funds for classified purposes with the stated aim of preventing waste of taxpayer money.

In the latest amendment to the 2025 budget bill submitted by the Democratic Party, classified funding for some of the country’s law enforcement and security agencies -- the police, the prosecution and President Yoon Suk Yeol’s National Security Office -- was slashed completely.

Reducing secret government expenditures has been a top priority for the Democratic Party in this year’s review of budget proposals. The main opposition party, which has a majority in the National Assembly, has argued that classified funds are prone to misappropriation, as they are not subject to public scrutiny.

According to Rep. Huh Young, the Democratic Party's deputy chair of the National Assembly's budget committee, secret funding set aside for six of the most powerful agencies totaled 2.12 trillion won ($1.5 billion). The six agencies cited by the lawmaker include the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Justice, the Korean National Police Agency and the National Intelligence Agency.

Of the 2.12 trillion won, at least 1.19 trillion can be spent without receipts or proof of payment, Huh said.

“Taxpayers will not tolerate such large secret budgets that can be used unwatched and unchecked, with no accountability whatsoever. As members of the Assembly, we have to question if these count as justified spending of taxpayer money,” he told a press conference Sunday.

The presidential office and the ruling People Power Party have protested the move, saying such across-the-board slashing of classified funding could hurt the fight against serious crimes such as drug trafficking, which require undercover operations.

The Democratic Party also decided to keep some 980 million won for the Assembly’s own classified expenditures, which was criticized as out of line with the party’s slashing of such spending at other public agencies.

Rep. Ku Ja-keun, the ruling People Power Party's deputy chair of the budget committee, told a plenary meeting of the Assembly on Monday that the Democratic Party’s budget cuts targeting law enforcement agencies are aimed at alleviating the legal troubles facing opposition leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung.

Lee is a main defendant in five separate criminal trials, in one of which he received a suspended jail sentence that will strip him of his Assembly seat if confirmed by higher courts.

“The (budget) bill, which was reviewed and deliberated by the budget committee, was completely upended by the Democratic Party without bipartisan agreement,” Ku said.