Republic of Korea's army soldiers arrest a mock terrorist during an anti-terror drill as part of the joint military exercises with the US on Aug 23, 2022. (AHN YOUNG-JOON / AP)
SEOUL – The Republic of Korea's defense ministry said Tuesday that the proposed defense budget for next year will be 4.6 percent higher than this year.
The Ministry of National Defense proposed a budget of 57.1 trillion won ($42.5 billion) for 2023, up 4.6 percent from this year's defense budget of 54.6 trillion won.
The budget to run military forces, such as paychecks and other maintenance costs, amounted to 40.1 trillion won in 2023, up 5.8 percent from this year's budget
The budget will be submitted to the National Assembly on Friday for approval.
Of the total, 17 trillion won was set aside to improve defense capabilities, such as weapons development projects and arms purchases in 2023, which was up 2.0 percent from this year.
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The budget to run military forces, such as paychecks and other maintenance costs, amounted to 40.1 trillion won in 2023, up 5.8 percent from this year's budget.
To strengthen its standalone defense capability, the ministry earmarked 5.25 trillion won for the so-called "three-axis" defense system in 2023. It was up 9.4 percent from this year.
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The system consists of the Kill Chain preemptive strike platform, the Korea Air and Missile Defense system, and the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation program, mostly for responding to possible attacks from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.