Page 158 - 2018 Defense White Paper

Section 6 Securing an Adequate Defense

Budget and Enhancing the

Efficiency of Defense Budget

Management

To maintain a firm defense posture against diverse security threats and stably implement defense reform, an
adequate defense budget must be secured. In addition to efforts to secure an adequate defense budget, the
MND is promoting highly efficient management across all areas of national defense to effectively utilize the
budget.

1. Defense Budget Status

The national defense budget covers the costs of carrying out various projects related to defense
policies to produce public goods called national defense. The appropriate size of a defense

budget is generally determined by the ability of the nation to bear f inancial burden as well as
the costs of building, operating, and maintaining military strength to counter security threats.
The proportion of the defense budget in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and government

spending has little changed in the past f ive years. In 2018, the defense budget accounted for
2.38% of the GDP and 10.06% of total government spending. The Defense Budget trend over
the past f ive years is shown in [Chart 4-14].

156 Chapter 4 Building Elite Armed Forces Using Advanced Technology