Page 190 - 2020 Defence White Paper

Section

5 Securing the Appropriate
Defense Budget and the

Efficiency of Budget Operation

for Steadfast Defense

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 securing
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 a nation to bear the financial

burden as well as the costs of building, operating, and maintaining military strength that
will counter security threats.
The proportion of the defense budget in the gross domestic product (GDP) and
government spending has been maintained with little change over the past f ve years. In
2021, the defense budget accounted for 2.64 of the GDP and 9.47 of total government
spending. The defense budget trend over the past f ve years is shown in Chart 5-10 .

[Chart 5-10] Trend of Defense Budget Over the Past Five Years (Original Budget)

Defense budget (KRW trillion) Defense budget–to–total Defense budget Defense budget–to–GDP
government spending ratio (%) increase rate (%) ratio (%)
10.07 10.06 9.94 9.79 9.47
50.2 52.8
46.7
43.2
40.3 8.2
7 7.4
5.4
4

2.2 2.27 2.43 2.62 2.64

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

2020 Defense White Paper