- South Korea’s National Assembly approved a 2026 defense budget of approximately $44.7 billion, reflecting a 7.5% increase over the previous year.
- The budget allocates $6 billion to strengthen the “three-axis” deterrence system against North Korea’s missile and nuclear threats.
South Korea has finalized its national defense budget for 2026 at KRW 65.8642 trillion (approximately $44.7 billion), representing a 7.5% increase over the 2025 allocation, the Ministry of National Defense said on December 3.
Although the original budget proposal submitted to the National Assembly anticipated an 8.2% increase, lawmakers reduced the final figure by KRW 430.5 billion during deliberations. According to the ministry, this reduction reflects expected execution rates and project status assessments.
“The salaries of non-commissioned officers and civilian personnel were reduced because the initial plan accounted for more staff than are currently serving,” a defense official said. “Some capital project budgets were also trimmed based on projected bid prices falling below allocated amounts.”
Despite these adjustments, the ministry said there would be no disruption to next year’s defense operations.
Several categories saw increases or new allocations during the Assembly review. These include duty pay for service members, moving allowances, leadership role compensation for majors and Grade-4 civilian staff, long-service health screenings, and a drone warfare training program.
Duty pay was increased to KRW 30,000 ($20) per weekday and KRW 100,000 ($68) per holiday, aligning with rates for civil servants. Moving allowances were expanded to cover two instances of ladder truck usage per move, rather than one, addressing the high frequency of relocations among military personnel.
A new leadership stipend will provide KRW 50,000 ($34) monthly to department heads and KRW 30,000 ($20) to individuals in solo command positions. Additionally, the drone training initiative—championed by Defense Minister Ahn Kyu-baek—was expanded from KRW 20.5 billion ($14 million) to KRW 33 billion ($22 million) to fund mass acquisition of commercial training drones and the training of drone instructors. The initiative aims to train 500,000 personnel for drone-related operations.
The 2026 defense budget increase is the largest since 2019, when the growth rate also reached 8.2%.
Of the total, KRW 45.8989 trillion ($31.2 billion) is allocated for force operations (up 5.8%), while KRW 19.9653 trillion ($13.5 billion is earmarked for capability development (up 11.9%).
The budget for the Korea Three-Axis System, which counters North Korea’s missile and nuclear threats, was increased by 21.3% to KRW 8.8387 trillion ($6 billion). This includes KRW 5.2639 trillion ($3.5 billion) for “Kill Chain” strike capabilities such as the KF-21’s initial production, KRW 1.8126 trillion ($1.2 billion) for Korea Air and Missile Defense (KAMD), KRW 712.1 billion ($484 million) for Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR), and KRW 1.0501 trillion ($713 million) for surveillance, reconnaissance, and command-and-control systems.
Defense R&D for 2026 was increased by 19.4% to KRW 5.8396 trillion ($3.9 billion), highlighting the country’s continued focus on indigenous military innovation.
South Korea’s defense spending trajectory underscores its sustained investment in advanced defense capabilities amid persistent regional tensions, particularly with North Korea.