Text Fwd: Ministry offers 7% rise in 2011 defense budget

Korea Times
Ministry offers 7% rise in 2011 defense budget
06-30-2010 22:16
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff reporter

The Ministry of National Defense has called for a 6.9 percent increase in defense spending next year, citing the need for bolstering its defense posture against North Korean provocation, ministry officials said Wednesday.

The ministry submitted the spending plan scaled at 31.6 trillion won ($25.9 billion) to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.

In detail, the ministry asked for 21.65 trillion won, a 5.8 percent increase, for operational costs, including salaries for soldiers, and 9.95 trillion won, a 9.4 percent rise, for arms improvement plans

The request for increasing defense expenditures follows the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship in the West Sea in March caused by, according to a Seoul-led multinational investigation team, a North Korean torpedo attack. The sinking of the Cheonan claimed the lives of 46 sailors.

Since then, calls have been growing to spend more money to build and acquire weapons systems to deter North Korea's asymmetrical and irregular warfare tactics.

The ministry also wants to improve the welfare of soldiers.

"There is a need to improve our military capabilities against emerging threats in the region. In particular, we feel a sense of urgency in beefing up our systems to thwart a North Korean provocation or infiltration in the wake of the Cheonan sinking," a ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

Gen. Han Min-koo, a nominee for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), echoed the calls for increasing defense spending.

"Should I take over as the JCS chief, I'll ask the President and the defense minister to increase the defense budget by 7 percent or more," Han said at a National Assembly confirmation hearing.

Budget constraints have haunted the country's ambitious military modernization program, dubbed the "Defense Reform 2020."

When the reform plan was originally formulated in 2005, the budget for this year was projected to increase to about 33 trillion won ($28 billion). But the money decreased to 29.6 trillion won.

For the 15-year period from 2006 to 2020, the original plan had a combined budget of 621 trillion won, including 75 trillion won to acquire advanced weapons to offset a planned manpower reduction by 2020.

According to the 2009 review of the plan, the aggregate 15-year budget decreased to 599 trillion won.

Based upon the low budget increase in 2010, and before adjustments for the Cheonan incident, the 15-year total would be more like 540 trillion won, an 80-trillion-won shortfall from the original plan, according to defense experts.

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