The country’s defense budget is set to hike 3.6 percent to 38.8 trillion won ($33.3 billion) next year on the back of an increase in salaries and production costs of utility helicopters and other weapons systems.

Overall, more than 27.1 trillion won was allotted for force operations, while some 11 trillion won will be spent to advance defense capabilities such as by continuing the establishment of the Kill Chain and the Korea Air and Missile Defense preemptive strike systems slated to be completed by the early 2020s.

“We are planning to make thorough preparations for next year’s budget implementation so that the money will be used to maximize the military’s combat capacity in the most effective manner possible,” a Defense Ministry official told reporters on customary condition of anonymity.

With the country seeking to enlist an additional 10,000 young men in 2016 alone to curb the growing backlog of candidates, 63.2 billion won was earmarked for soldiers’ salaries, food and uniform costs. The military also plans to purchase about 2,700 washing machines and 2,900 dryers adding up to 2.7 billion won, while spending 500 million won for more ambulance units to facilitate the transfer of patients and first aid in mountainous frontline units.

On the weapons front, 2.8 billion won has been newly allocated for chemical, biological and radiological patrol cars, 3.6 billion won for an Ulsan-class batch 3 combat system and 2 billion won for air ammunition fuses. Among the major continuous projects is the manufacturing of Surion utility helicopters, worth 50 billion won.

But it is stoking concerns over possible setbacks for Seoul’s plan to beef up its reconnaissance capabilities against North Korea due to the slash in expenses for projects to adopt more spy satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles in frontline areas, amounting to 8 billion won and 11.6 billion won, respectively.

The funds for the initiative to develop indigenous fighter jets were also cut down to 67 billion won from the government-proposed 161.8 billion won. If the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the state arms procurement agency, fails to clinch a formal agreement with selected contractor Korea Aerospace Industries within this year, it will lose another 19.8 billion won set for 2014. This year’s budget stands at 55.2 billion won.

“As KAI was already picked as our preferred bidder, we’re making our utmost efforts to sign it later this month and implement the entire expenditure assigned for 2014-16 next year,” another ministry official said, asking anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)