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President Lee Jae-myung speaks during a senior aides’ meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Jan. 29. / Yonhap

Cheong Wa Dae announced Sunday that it has returned 47.8 billion won in unused government funds to the national treasury, citing efforts to curb spending and protect taxpayers’ money.

In a press release, the presidential office said it returned 7.4 billion won out of the 41.3 billion won budgeted for special activity funds in 2025 after tightening expenditures. The move is part of broader savings that also included business promotion expenses and specific-purpose operational funds.

Earlier in the day, Cheong Wa Dae disclosed detailed spending records for special activity funds, business promotion expenses and specific-purpose operational funds covering the period from September to December last year on its official website.

This marks the second time such information has been made public, following the first-ever disclosure in September last year. According to Cheong Wa Dae, it is the only government institution to release itemized spending details for the entire budgets of these categories.

During the September–December period, special activity funds were spent on 1,526 items totaling 29.2 billion won, business promotion expenses on 6,319 items totaling 26.7 billion won, and specific-purpose operational funds on 2,354 items totaling 4.1 billion won.

The total amount returned to the treasury comprised 7.4 billion won in special activity funds, 33.4 billion won in business promotion expenses, and 7.0 billion won in specific-purpose operational funds.

Cheong Wa Dae said the savings were achieved by treating public funds “as carefully as one’s own money” and pledged to continue allocating national budgets “only where necessary and only to the extent required.”