Conservative Regime Faces 'Worst' Sentiment Among Troops [Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club]

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Concerns are emerging that the Yoon Seok-yeol administration may actually weaken national security under a conservative government by drastically cutting the defense budget. The reduction in the defense budget is due to the supplementary budget of over 33 trillion won aimed at supporting small business owners affected by COVID-19, but critics argue that this is out of sync with the conservative government's stance on strengthening security.

While preparing an additional supplementary budget of 59 trillion won, the government covered a significant portion of the shortfall by cutting the defense budget. Of the total 7 trillion won in expenditure restructuring, about 23%, or 1.5068 trillion won (951.8 billion won for operational expenses and 555 billion won for defense capability improvement), came from the defense budget. This large-scale cut drew criticism from both ruling and opposition parties alike during the National Assembly's National Defense Committee plenary session.

President Yoon Seok-yeol criticized the previous administration on Facebook in August last year during his presidential candidacy, saying, "The Moon Jae-in government reduced the Ministry of National Defense budget by about 560 billion won, including cutting the F-35A procurement budget to secure disaster relief funds," and added, "National security is the last bastion protecting the lives and property of the people and must not allow even the slightest gap." His current actions appear to contradict this stance since taking office.

Like President Yoon, conservative governments have historically reduced the growth rate of the defense budget after taking office. The Lee Myung-bak administration had a 6.1% increase, and the Park Geun-hye administration had 4.2%. In contrast, the Roh Moo-hyun administration had an 8.4% increase, and the Moon Jae-in administration's defense budget annual growth rate from 2018 to 2022 was 6.3%. Under the Moon administration, military power reportedly rose from 11th to 6th place globally. According to the Global Firepower (GFP), a U.S. private military strength evaluation agency, South Korea received a military power index of 0.1261, ranking 6th among 140 countries worldwide.

Following the budget cuts, there are also criticisms within the military that morale has been lowered due to the populist pledge of "soldiers' pay of 2 million won." The Presidential Transition Committee announced 110 national tasks and stated that President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol's pledge to raise soldiers' pay to 2 million won would be realized by 2025. However, there is backlash, especially among so-called "I-dae-nam" (men in their 20s), claiming this is a retreat from the original pledge to provide 2 million won in soldiers' pay immediately upon inauguration.

The issue remains ongoing. The Transition Committee plans to resolve the additional budget for the soldiers' pay increase through supplementary increases beyond the existing defense budget, but there are many practical obstacles. It is also highly likely that funds will be diverted from other soldiers' welfare and benefits budgets.

More budget is needed. Even before the controversy over the drastic cut in the defense budget, the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's plan to relocate the presidential office to the Yongsan Ministry of National Defense is expected to incur astronomical costs. When asked at the confirmation hearing how much the sequential relocation of the Ministry of National Defense would cost, Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop replied, "I think it can be done with about 300 billion won." In response, Democratic Party lawmaker Ki Dong-min estimated at least 1.2 trillion won. In the case of Yongsan Park development, the budget could increase further depending on contamination verification issues and the degree of public access.