The Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday it has requested a 7.2 percent hike in its budget for next year to cope with growing threats from North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.
The Defense Ministry has asked the Finance Ministry to earmark 40.14 trillion won ($35.95 billion) for 2016, up from this year’s 37.46 trillion won.
The budget request is subject to approval by the Finance Ministry and the National Assembly. According to government data, government agencies have asked for a 4.1 percent rise in their 2016 budget to a combined 390.9 trillion won.
In a move to strengthen the military’s combat readiness, the ministry called for 12.37 trillion won, a 12.4 percent increase on-year, with the rest to be for maintaining troops which saw a 5 percent rise compared to this year.
“We plan to invest some 1.57 trillion won this year in developing the preemptive strike apparatus, the Kill Chain, and the low-tier air defense program, called the Korean Air and Missile Defense system,” a ministry official said, citing the country’s future key assets aimed at better deterring North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
“Some 458 billion won will be spent for introducing surveillance capabilities such as military satellites and Global Hawk drones, and 734.3 billion won will be to secure precision-strike capabilities such as ship-to-ground ballistic rockets,” the official added.
The ministry also eyes launching 32 new projects including the production of long-range radars and the establishment of a aerospace operations center, which are expected to require 165.4 billion won in total.
As part of efforts to better manage troops, the ministry seeks to raise the monthly salary for enlistees and provide draftees expecting children with incentives.
“For corporals, the monthly payment will be 178,000 won next year from the current 154,800 won,” another official said, noting the increase rate differs among ranks.
“Some 200,000 won will also be paid to those having a child to promote their welfare and to encourage more to have children,” he added.
In a move to improve the quality of the barracks life and better care for draftees, the ministry vowed to secure budgets to contract private entities to take charge of non-combat duties that have been carried out by soldiers, to conduct a medical check-up and get vaccinations for the service personnel, and to install more public telephones for soldiers. (Yonhap)
