By Lee Tae-hoon
The Ministry of National Defense requested a budget of 33.2 trillion won ($28.2 billion) for 2012, a 5.6 percent increase compared with 31.4 trillion won this year. It accounts for 10.3 percent of next-year’s government budget of 326.1 trillion won.
Next year’s military budget plan will be submitted to the National Assembly Friday, vice defense minister Lee Yong-gul said.
“The 2012 defense budget is focused on making combat-ready units, boosting the morale and welfare of soldiers, preparing for the upcoming transfer of operational control (OPCON) and undertaking defense reform,” he said.
Ahn Il-hwan, senior defense official in charge of budgetary issues, said that non-commissioned officers (NCOs) serving in combat units will receive an additional monthly benefit of 50,000 to 70,000 won and those undertaking dangerous duties will also receive greater financial compensation.
“Special forces soldiers and those who board warships and airplanes will be entitled to a raise,” he said.
He said the military plans to spend 34.4 billion won over the next two years for the construction of the Joint Chiefs of Staff War Simulation Center, which is expected to assist a smooth transfer of OPCON from Washington in 2015.
He noted that 25.8 billion won will be allocated to better protect the nation’s defense information systems to counter a growing number of cyber attacks and unauthorized access.
“In line with the government’s effort to make the defense industry progress into a new growth driver, we have requested a 7 percent hike in the defense research and development budget,” Ahn said.
The official added that some 180 billion won is also set for conducting environmental assessments and remediate contaminated areas in the U.S. military bases returned to Korea before May 2003 without environmental surveys and their surrounding areas.
According to the proposal, the defense ministry will also spend more than 55 billion won on military communications systems, with some 15 billion allocated for improving the Air Force and Army’s C4I (command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence) network-centric battlefield management systems.
Kim Tae-gon, another defense budget official, told reporters that the government axed a budget for the purchase of a presidential jet, which would have cost roughly 600 billion won.
“The proposed initial spending to buy a presidential jet was not included in the total defense budget proposal for next year because the government has yet to decide whether to continue the five-year lease or introduce a new aircraft,” he said.
However, Choi Jong-o, a spokesman of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, did not rule out the possibility that the National Assembly will revive the long-delayed plan during its budget deliberation.
“Now the decision is up to the National Assembly,” he said.
The Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA) forecast in a report conducted between March 1 and Aug. 31 that it would cost 1.14 trillion won ($1.03 billion) to buy and operate a new presidential jet for 25 years, compared to 1.62 trillion won for a long-term lease.
The government suspended the bidding for the presidential jet acquisition in September 2010 as the sole contender, Boeing, failed to meet 48 essential requirements, while demanding more than twice its estimated cost.
The current Boeing 747 VIP plane, introduced in 1985, can only accommodate 41 passengers and has a maximum flight range of 3,400 kilometers, leaving it impossible to fly out of Northeast Asia without refueling.
President Lee Myung-bak uses a Boeing 747-400 jet for overseas trips under a five-year lease with Korean Air, but it lacks office space and defense capabilities.