Finance ministry sets agenda to lift potential growth

The finance ministry said it will pursue structural reforms to lift potential growth, including a planned overhaul of national asset management. State-owned property reached 1,403 trillion won at the end of 2025.

The ministry said the overhaul was intended to reflect the rapid increase in national assets. It plans a tentatively named Basic Act on National Assets to replace the 70-year-old state-property legal framework, shifting the focus from ownership and preservation to active management and value creation.

The planned law would move beyond real-estate-centered management by establishing tailored rules for securities, intellectual property and virtual assets, while strengthening the control-tower function for their integrated use. The new system would integrate assets through a phased K-Asset Cloud system connecting public-sector data.

For industry, the ministry will prepare measures to apply AI to manufacturing and shift steel and petrochemicals toward higher-value production. It also plans to nurture the robot industry and lay foundations for physical AI across industries.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said, "Beyond semiconductors, we must reform established industries such as steel, foster new industries and narrow gaps across assets, income, labor, generations and regions to deliver changes people can feel."

The planned youth employment recovery package will seek to train more than 200,000 specialists in AI and other advanced fields by 2030 and create 300,000 jobs and startup opportunities. It will also expand employment support and create a platform to match young people with jobs.