South Korean Government Parties Agree to Increase Defense Budget in 2017
In the middle of the growing military threats from North Korea, the ruling Saenuri Party and the other parties agreed to pursue a more-than-average increase in defense allocation for 2017.
During their first bilateral consultation related to the 2017 budget on Tuesday, the two parties also concurred to appropriate more funds for creating jobs for young people and discussed issues that come from the country's low birthrate and aging population.
Saenuri Floor Leader Chung Jin Suk, Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Yoo Il Ho, and other senior officials were in attendance during the meeting at the National Assembly.
According to the Korea Herald, Saneuri's chief policymaker Kim Kwang Lim told reporters that the ruling party called for an increase in defense expenditure to assist various projects. This action is aimed to contend better with North Korea's progressing missile and nuclear threats, and to improve the overall living conditions for the South Korean troops.
Saneuri's floor leader emphasized the significance of promptly passing the proposed extra budget plan which is worth 11 trillion won (US $9.64 billion). According to Chung, an appropriate economic input is pertinent in reviving the country's economy, which presently faces flagging exports and a probable fallout from the current restructuring of major industries.
Rep. Chung also added, "The timing is important for revitalizing the economy and the passage of the extra budget plan should not be postponed."
Particularly, he advised that if the legislature will not be able to approve the extra budget plan soon, South Korea's economic growth for 2016 might dive to the lower end of 2 percent.
In July, the central bank of South Korea changed its growth outlook to 2.7 percent due to the inactive consumption at home and abroad. The growth outlook was initially projected at 2.8 percent.
South Korea's three main parties, which include the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea and the People's Party, agreed on Monday to hold a parliamentary plenary session on August 22 to further discuss the extra budget plan.