South Korea’s Defense Ministry on Friday proposed a 2026 defense budget of 66.3 trillion won ($48 billion), the largest annual increase in seven years, amid mounting US pressure for Seoul to boost its military spending.
Next year’s defense budget is 8.2 percent, or 5.05 trillion won, higher than this year’s 61.59 trillion won, according to the government budget proposal. It focuses on funding advanced weapons acquisitions and boosting salaries for junior officers.
A Defense Ministry official noted that this marks the largest annual increase since an 8.2 percent increase in 2019 under the Moon Jae-in administration.
The operations budget, which includes salaries for enlisted troops, has been set at 46.12 trillion won, a 6.3 percent increase on-year. The force improvement budget, for procurement and modernization of weapons, will rise 13 percent to 20.17 trillion won.
The operations budget includes measures to improve conditions for junior officers, such as raising base salary by up to 6.6 percent and expanding incentives and bonuses.
Funding for the development and production of the KF-21, South Korea’s next-generation fighter jet, will be nearly doubled from the current 1.3 trillion won to 2.4 trillion won. This will include the development of new missiles and engines.
Building on the technology of the KF-21, the ministry will invest a separate 63.6 billion won in research on a next-generation stealth fighter. The technologies are expected to be applied to the research and development of unmanned combat aircraft and stealth naval vessels.
The budget is expected to fund projects that will strengthen South Korea’s core defense systems against North Korea’s nuclear threat, including the Korea Air and Missile Defense, and the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation strategy.
Some 500 billion won will be used to support the growth and overseas expansion of defense startups with cutting-edge technologies.
The budget proposal comes as Washington has stepped up pressure on Seoul to increase its defense budget and shoulder a larger share of the cost of maintaining the 28,500 US troops stationed on the peninsula.
The Trump administration has called on Asian allies to raise defense spending to 5 percent of gross domestic product, mirroring commitments made by NATO members. According to the Defense Ministry, South Korea’s current defense budget stands at 61.2 trillion won, equivalent to 2.32 percent of gross domestic product.
President Lee Jae Myung, in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on Monday, said South Korea would boost military spending to take on a more “leading” role in strengthening security on the Korean Peninsula. His remarks closely followed his first summit with US President Donald Trump at the White House.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
