South Korea plans to increase its defense budget by 3.6% in 2025

By Alimat Aliyeva

The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Korea proposes to increase the military budget by 3.6% in 2025, to 61.5 trillion won (approximately $46.3 billion), Azernews reports.

The Government of the Republic of Korea plans to submit a draft budget for 2025 to the National Assembly on September 2. This year, government defense spending totaled 59.4 trillion won ($44.6 billion). If the parliament approves the proposal, the defense budget of the Republic of Korea will exceed 60 trillion won ($45.11 billion) for the first time, the ministry said.

"Despite the strict approach to financial spending, the government has given priority to military spending, given the serious security situation in the world and in the country," Seoul said. The defense budget for 2025 in the project increased by 3.6%, the entire financial plan increased by 3.2%.

The ministry intends to allocate approximately 18 trillion won ($13.5 billion) for the purchase of weapons, which is 2.4% more than this year. About 43.5 trillion won ($32.7 billion), according to the project, will be allocated to cover the cost of maintaining the armed forces, which is 4.2% more than in 2024.