South Korea sets record 73.3 trillion won defense budget, adds first nuclear submarine funding

South Korea’s next defense budget will exceed 70 trillion won for the first time, marking the largest year-on-year increase since 2007. The government has set aside 73.2777 trillion won for defense, up 8.2%, or 5.5737 trillion won, from this year.

The Defense Ministry said the increase reflects efforts to strengthen the country’s self-reliant defense capabilities and prepare for the eventual transfer of wartime operational control. The budget amounts to 2.33% of gross domestic product, while also taking into account an agreement between Seoul and Washington to raise defense spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2035.

The plan includes about 100 billion won for a nuclear-powered submarine, the first time such funding has appeared in the defense budget. Spending on the domestically developed KF-21 supersonic fighter will more than double, rising from 1.4 trillion won this year to 3.3 trillion won next year.

The government will also bring forward by about a year the deployment of medium-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles and the L-SAM long-range surface-to-air missile system. Funding for command and reconnaissance programs will rise 28.9% to 2.4393 trillion won. Spending on drone forces and systems designed to counter drones will increase from 670 billion won to about 800 billion won.

The budget combines military operations, defense capability development and military administration spending. Operations funding will rise 5.9% to 50.0416 trillion won, while defense capability development spending will increase 13.8% to 22.7112 trillion won, its fastest growth since 2008. The Foreign Ministry’s budget will rise 2.4% to 3.7033 trillion won, and the Unification Ministry will receive 1.2549 trillion won, including 1.0115 trillion won for inter-Korean cooperation.