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South Korea increases defence budget and pumps out patrol boats

24th December 2019 - 10:06 GMT | by Gordon Arthur in Christchurch

RSS

Domestic shipbuilders continue to produce multiple new vessels for the Republic of Korean Navy (ROKN), even as the Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced a 7.5% defence budget increase for 2020.

After approval from the National Assembly in December, military spending in 2020 will rise to KRW50.15 trillion ($42 billion). This equates to about 2.5% of national GDP. Force modernisation funding within the overall defence budget will benefit from an 8.5% (KRW 16.7 trillion) rise.

In shipbuilding news, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced that four Patrol Killer Experimental-B (PKX-B) fast attack craft were launched by Hanjin Heavy Industries

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