The Navy's 3,000-ton Dosan Ahn Chang-ho submarine, designed and built with domestic technologyREPUBLIC OF KOREA NAVY
The government is set to sharply increase next year's defense budget, pushing annual defense spending above 70 trillion won ($50.5 billion) for the first time, according to exclusive reporting by the JoongAng Ilbo.
The government has drawn up a defense budget of about 71.8 trillion won for next year and is in the final stages of coordinating the plan among relevant ministries, according to multiple sources told the outlet on Sunday.
The proposed budget marks a 9 percent increase from this year's 65.8 trillion won — the first increase in the 9 percent range since 2005, during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, when defense spending rose 9.9 percent.
This year's defense budget, the first under the Lee Jae Myung administration, was also increased by 8.2 percent from the previous year.
The sharp increase is seen as reflecting the government's push for greater self-reliance in national defense.
The defense budget generally consists of force operating costs and defense capability improvement spending. The government plans to increase the latter, which covers weapons acquisition, by more than 13 percent.
The government budget proposal also includes more than 10 billion won for the nuclear-powered submarine program dubbed the "Jang Bogo N” project and more than 140 billion won for the transfer of wartime operational control. Funding for the initial production batch of the domestically developed KF-21 fighter jet is also set to be included.
Spending on improving service members' welfare is also expected to rise significantly, including funding for the government's planned selective volunteer military service system.
A prototype of Korea's domestically developed KF-21 supersonic fighter jet takes off from the Air Force's training base in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang, on May 13.JOINT PRESS CORPS
The U.S. President Donald Trump administration's demands for greater contributions from U.S. allies may also have played a role in the government's push to increase defense spending. At last year's Korea-U.S. summit, the government agreed at Washington's request to raise defense spending to 3.5 percent of GDP.
The government plans to increase defense spending by 8 to 9 percent annually during Lee's term to reach 3.5 percent of GDP by 2035. The total amount that could be classified as defense spending would be even larger if the budgets of agencies such as the Military Manpower Administration are included alongside those of the Defense Ministry and Defense Acquisition Program Administration.
The government's overall budget for next year is likely to exceed 820 trillion won, up by more than 90 trillion won from this year. The growth rate in total government spending is expected to be around 12 percent, a substantial increase from this year's 8.1 percent.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
