Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

The National Defense Committee did not approve the budget requests for the Defense Ministry and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration

Ruling and opposition parties reduced the nonessential budget and transferred it to personnel expenses

The confirmation hearing for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff candidate, Kim Myung-soo, will be held on November 15

The dispatch period for the Akh Unit and Cheonghae Unit was extended by one year

Chairman Han Ki-ho approves the budget for the Military Manpower Administration at the National Assembly Defense Committee plenary session on November 9.

The plenary session of the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly was held on November 9, 2023, where the 2024 budget for the Military Manpower Administration was passed, along with the budget for the May 18 Democratization Movement Truth Commission.

The committee considered the budget for the Military Manpower Administration and decided to increase it by KRW 696 million to conduct drug tests for all people subject to enlistment examination and conscript physical tests, and by KRW 1.367 billion to install and promote military career development support centers in Uijeongbu, Changwon and Ulsan.

For the budget for a project to support the military conscript service, an overestimated amount of KRW 12.45 billion was cut based on the rate and amount of soldiers’ participation in the Installment Deposit to Help Soldiers Prepare for Tomorrow. In addition, the committee adopted a total of six incidental opinions including a report on the Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer operation plan.

A budget of KRW 320 million was allocated for the publication and distribution of a comprehensive report on the screening results of the May 18 Democratization Movement Truth Commission and KRW 300 million was allocated to prepare a spatial information platform digital report.

However, the budget bill for the Defense Ministry and Defense Acquisition Program Administration was not passed because the ruling and opposition parties failed to reach an agreement.

In the Subcommittee on Budget and Accounts Consideration, the National Defense Committee reportedly decided to cut non-essential funds for the Defense Ministry (KRW 56 billion) and Defense Ministry and Defense Acquisition Program Administration (KRW 77 billion) and use them for personnel expenses for officers, special area service allowance, and overtime pay, and welfare improvement for civilians in the military including civilian cooks. However, differences regarding the Defense Ministry’s R&D budget to improve the defense capability of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration were not narrowed and an agreed bill was not submitted.

Lee Ki-sik, Commissioner of the Military Manpower Administration, said, “Based on the budget passed today, we will recruit appropriate manpower required by the military and maximize the performance of the budget by executing it efficiently to realize a fair and just military manpower administration policy, and the Military Manpower Administration will reflect valuable opinions expressed in the budget deliberation process in military manpower policy.”

The National Defense Committee also adopted an implementation plan to hold a confirmation hearing for Joint Chiefs of Staff candidate Kim Myung-soo and request data submission, and passed a motion to extend the dispatch period of Korean Armed Forces in the Gulf of Aden, Somalia and to extend the dispatch period to support the training of UAE military.

The implementation plan includes holding the confirmation hearing on November 15 as agreed upon by the ruling and opposition parties.

The motion is to prolong the dispatch period of Korean military units sent to the Gulf of Aden, Somalia, and the UAE by one year from December 31, 2023 to December 31, 2024. Currently there are 300 soldiers of the Cheonghae Unit in the Gulf of Aden, Somalia and 150 members of the Akh Unit in the UAE. The government has extended the dispatch period by one year every year by parliamentary approval.

In particular, the National Defense Committee included a site inspection of overseas dispatched units in the national government audit as the incidental opinion of the National Assembly.

Meanwhile, the National Defense Committee held a public hearing on proposed legislation on the installation of a defense science and technology academy. The legislation, proposed by National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, aims to cultivate professional research manpower in defense science and technology commensurate with the requirements of the military and the state and to develop ways of securing and using defense research manpower for the long term, thereby strengthening defense science and technology and national defense.

By Chae-Mu, Im <lims86@dema.mil.kr > 

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