By Lee Tae-hoon
A state-run arms procurement agency has announced a plan to hike spending on weapons and military infrastructure by 11.1 percent next year to better prepare the country for the planned transfer of Seoul’s wartime operational command slated for December 2015.
“The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) has made a request for 10.99 trillion won ($95.94 billion), up 11.1 percent compared to 2012, to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance,” said Oh Seung-jin, director general of financial and information planning at DAPA.
He noted that DAPA allocated 6.2 trillion won to secure weapons systems that would allow the country to reduce its dependency on U.S. military assets and boost deterrent capabilities against potential threats.
Oh added that it plans to inject an additional 4 trillion won for the purchase of 81 weapons aimed at helping the country better counter imminent North Korean threats, such as artillery attacks.
He also said that DAPA wants to invest the remaining budget of 776.7 billion won for the promotion of the local defense industry in the research and manufacturing of key defense components.
Some major procurement items include an air-to-air tanker, a set of domestic medium-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles (MUAV), low-altitude acquisition radars, laser-guided bombs and a remote fire control system.
“There has been a growing need to introduce a tanker, for which we set aside 46.7 billion won, to boost much-needed military airfield capabilities,” he said. “DAPA has also given the green light to the production of the MUAV as the chance of acquiring high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles (HUAV) remains uncertain.”
DAPA had dropped its plan to purchase a tanker and HUAVs due to budget constraints.
Oh added that the introduction of low-altitude acquisition radars will help the Air Force better monitor infiltrations by North Korea’s radar-evading AN-2 planes, propeller-driven biplanes made mostly of cloth and wood.
He also mentioned that a new advance naval base will be built at Sadong Port on Ulleung Island in the East Sea by 2018, with a budget of 154 billion won.
The Navy's fast attack craft is expected to be stationed there to provide logistical support for a frigate guarding the Dokdo islets near Ulleung Island.
Meanwhile, Kim Min-seok, spokesman of the Ministry of National Defense, said that his ministry has requested 35.5 trillion won for its 2013 budget, up 7.6 percent from last year, to improve welfare for troops and to bolster the armed forces' combat capabilities.
He said that the ministry’s budget proposal of 35.4 trillion won includes DAPA’s 10.99 trillion won budget and additional spending of 126.3 billion won to increase the wages of conscripted soldiers.
A senior defense official said that the average monthly wages of a corporal will rise from 97,500 to 122,900 won, up 26 percent.