Budget for missile defense cut to increase soldiers’ pay

The Moon Jae-in administration has slashed the budget for missile defense projects to increase the pay for conscripts, an opposition lawmaker claimed Tuesday.

Rep. Kim Hack-yong of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party claimed the decrease in military spending in the defense budget was to supplement the expenses needed to raise the wages for soldiers in line with Moon’s campaign pledge.

“It is suspected that the missile defense spending was decreased to meet the President’s populist campaign promise,” said Kim, who is also a member of the National Assembly Defense Committee. “The government is being negligent in national security if it is found to be deducting from the budget needed to defend against North Korean missile attacks, but instead is carrying out Moon’s pledge.”

Citing data obtained from the Ministry of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Kim said a total of 55.9 billion won ($49.4 million) was slashed from missile defense spending after undergoing a finance ministry review.

The amount is required to carry out eight projects linked to setting up the country’s three-pronged defense system — the Kill Chain, the Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) and the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR) — against North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile attacks. The defense ministry is seeking to complete building the system by 2020.

Six of the eight projects require 50.6 billion won to build the KAMD aimed at launching preemptive strikes against North Korea’s nuclear and missile facilities if the South is under imminent threat.

The six are related to the carbon fiber bomb, tactical ground guided weapons, KDX-II destroyers, reconnaissance satellite imaging, long-range air-to-ground guided-missiles and maritime patrol aircraft.

The other project, worth 5 billion won, is about PAC-3 missiles that form elements of KAMD, a missile defense system being developed to track and shoot down Pyongyang’s ballistic missiles.

The remaining project is worth 300 million won, with a goal of developing drones for special operations and helping South Korea retaliate against any possible North Korean attacks under the KMPR.

Kim said the 55.9 billion won is believed to be used in raising the total annual pay of the conscripts to 1.8 trillion won in 2018.