By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter

The Defence Ministry said yesterday it will propose 7.3 trillion won ($6.29 billion) for military modernization next year, a 16-percent increase from this year’s spending.

The Defense Ministry said they will request about 21.4 trillion won ($18.5 billion) in total for next year’s spending, equaling around 2.9 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), about 13.4 percent up from this year’s 18.9 trillion won ($16.3 billion), which amounts to 2.8 percent of the GDP.

The much increased budget for military buildup - 34 percent of the total money requested _ is due to U.S. plans to slash its military presence here by one-third by next year, forcing the Korean military to bolster its deterrent against North Korea.

The ministry explained the 7.3 trillion won will be spent on fortifying military power with a set of arms buildup projects such as the deployment of an airborne reconnaissance system and an advanced version of Patriot missiles.

Other force improvement projects will include the introduction of F-15K fighter jets, KF-16 jets, K1A1 tanks, Aegis-equipped destroyers and C4I, or joint Command, Control, Communication, Computer and Intelligence system, it said.

The ministry, however, explained it expects the total defense budget to be set a bit higher than its request since its budgetary draft was made at the end of last month, when the U.S. troop pullout plan had not yet been revealed.

In the rather rapid development of its realignment strategy, Washington informed Seoul on July 6 of the plan to reduce 12,500 soldiers out of the 37,000-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) by the end of 2005.

``We just drafted the budget request for next year, taking into account the state’s financial situation,’’ Maj. Gen. Won Jang-hwan, director of the acquisition policy bureau, said in a press briefing. ``But we expect the Planning and Budget Ministry will increase it anyhow to a level of 3 percent (of the GDP) considering the large-scale U.S. troop pullout.’’

Lt. Gen. Kwon An-do, who led the Seoul delegation to a bilateral military discussion with the U.S. earlier this month, also said the national military budget should be increased by up to 3.2 percent of GDP in coming years.

``The Defense Ministry is in dire need of an increased budget since it has to establish the `cooperative self-defense’ system as early as possible,’’ Kwon said at the National Assembly yesterday.

The Washington plan to restructure its global military presence, known as the Global Defense Posture Review (GPR), caused security concerns among some South Koreans, though it was widely anticipated. Seoul said the timeframe proposed by the U.S. side will be negotiated in the coming months because the pullout was too soon to accept..

The U.S. said its troop reduction plan will not weaken the ROK-U.S. combined deterrence against North Korea, citing its $11 billion force improvement program. The package will include unmanned aerial vehicle Predator, PAC-3 Patriot missiles, AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters and F/A-18 fighter jets among others.

jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr