Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Government earmarks 55.2 trillion won for 2022 defense budget, an increase of 4.5 percent compared to 2021

- Intensive investments in improving welfare for soldiers, including improvement of meal and tomorrow reserve savings deposit for soldiers after discharge from service

- Significant increase in defense R&D budget to strengthen global competitiveness in the defense industry

ㅇ The government has earmarked 55 trillion and 227.7 billion won for the 2022 defense budget, an increase of 4.5 percent compared to the 2021 budget, which it plans to submit to the National Assembly on September 3. If the draft is reflected in the final budget, the government’s defense budget will have seen an average annual increase of 6.5 percent over the last four years.
* (‘18) 7.0%  (’19) 8.2%  (’20) 7.4%  (’21) 5.4%  (draft for 2022) 4.5%

ㅇ The government has earmarked 17 trillion and 336.5 billion won for spending on the improvement of defensive strength (2.0 percent increased), which is to be invested into military buildup, and 37 trillion and 891.2 billion won for spending on force management (5.7 percent increased), which is to be spent for the management of military strength.

ㅇ As a top priority, the draft defense budget has reflected the spending on force improvement, such as the establishment of a nuclear and WMD response system to prepare against omnidirectional security threats, and essential spending on the management of military strength, such as logistics, facilities, training and drills.

It has also specified intensive investments into the defense R&D budget to strengthen the global competitiveness of the domestic defense industry, as well as to improve meals and welfare for soldiers, which has recently become an issue.