The government said on the 1st that it set next year's defense budget at about 73 trillion won. That is 5.5737 trillion won more than this year's 67.704 trillion won. Last year, for the first time since the government was founded, the defense budget was increased by more than 5 trillion won in a single year, and this time it was raised even more. The government plans to use it for the transfer of wartime operational control, a nuclear-powered submarine, and a future force structure overhaul.
According to next year's budget plan, 50.0416 trillion won is for force operations and 524.9 billion won for military manpower administration, totaling 73.2777 trillion won. The growth rate is 8.2%, the largest increase since 2008 based on finalized budget plans. In addition to the decision with the U.S. government to expand defense expenditure to 3.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035, the government's policy of autonomous defense appears to have driven the increase. The Ministry of National Defense said, "We focused on strengthening the military's autonomous defense capabilities and shifting from a troop-centered military to one centered on advanced technology."
In particular, 99.6 billion won was included for the first time to introduce a nuclear-powered submarine. It is a defense budget to launch development of a nuclear-powered submarine. The plan is to use it not only for submarine design but also for building related facilities, which is seen as an intention to speed up the project's progress. An official at the Ministry of National Defense said, "We are currently discussing the total project cost."
The force improvement budget used for purchasing weapons systems and other items was set at 22.7224 trillion won, an increase of 2.7571 trillion won (13.8%) from this year. The government's policy is to invest most of this in boosting combined-operation capabilities by expediting the acquisition of the long-range surface-to-air missile L-SAM and the medium-altitude reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle (MUAV) to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, and by establishing a wartime military information distribution system for Korea-led combined defense operations.
Aircraft programs, which account for a large portion of the force improvement budget, total 6.5662 trillion won, up 36.9%. The plan is to accelerate force integration by moving quickly with the initial and follow-on mass production of the next-generation Korean fighter KF-21. The initial mass production will receive 3.3 trillion won. The initial mass production refers to Block I focused on air-to-air capabilities, and the follow-on mass production refers to Block II with added air-to-ground missiles. To conduct initial and follow-on mass production in parallel next year, the military additionally reflected about 150 billion won.
The military also included in next year's budget plan funding to field an artificial intelligence (AI) manned-unmanned teaming system that includes drones. It will advance surveillance capabilities using AI unmanned systems and field explosive detection and disposal robots and an underwater autonomous search system. It also plans to start research and development on swarm drones and build up midrange loitering munitions, squad-level small anti-personnel loitering munitions, and small attack drones, making drones a key firepower of Korea's forces.
A budget was also set to respond to the decline in conscription resources. The Ministry of National Defense, noting a shortage of active-duty resources, will expand the standing reserve force from 3,700 to 7,000 to enhance the reserves' elite capability. To this end, it will inject 25.6 billion won, up sharply from this year's 8.7 billion won, and it plans to raise compensation for reserve training.
The budget will also be invested to expand drone forces and a multi-layered counter-drone defense system to prepare for the changing face of modern warfare. The plan is to launch research and development on swarm drones and to build up midrange loitering munitions, squad-level small anti-personnel loitering munitions, and small attack drones. In addition, funding was set to improve conditions for military officers, including raising pay at pay grade sergeant (E-5) step 1 to about 3 million won per month.
Meanwhile, with the designation of the Gwangju air base as the "Honam semiconductor cluster site," 316.9 billion won was included next year to temporarily deploy the functions of the Air Force's 1st Fighter Wing stationed there to the Air Force bases in Yecheon and Seosan.
The budget to integrate the Army, Navy and Air Force academies, which the government is pursuing, was left out of next year's plan. After a feasibility study next year, it is considering including it in the 2028 budget plan.