South Korea will try to spend up to 80 percent of its defense budget for local sourcing under a "Buy Korea Defense" project aimed at boosting local industries and securing key technologies, officials said Wednesday.

Under the project, set to be introduced this month, the country plans to spend 80 trillion won ($68.3 billion) out of 100 trillion won earmarked for defense capabilities improvement projects by 2026 on local research and development, production and other domestic procurement programs, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).

Currently, around 73 percent of the budget is spent at home, and the government seeks to increase the proportion to 80 percent in phases over the next five years, it added.

In case the defense spending on imports exceeds the 20 percent cap, the defense project promotion committee presided over by the defense minister should review and approve related plans, according to the DAPA.

The policy also mandates evaluation of the benefits that local development and production could bring to the domestic economy before deciding how to push for major defense projects with a budget of more than 300 billion won, the agency said.

"Projects meant to boost defense capabilities will be pushed for locally in principle down the road," a DAPA official said. "We will continue to seek ways to secure advanced defense technologies for self-defense and economic ripple effects." (Yonhap)