TOKYO (Sputnik) – South Korean defense spending will go up to 4 percent when compared with the growth of total budget expenditures, Park said in a 2016 budget address to the South Korean legislature, the National Assembly.
"To effectively counter possible North Korean provocations and factors of instability on the Korean peninsula, we need to strengthen defense capabilities focusing on the strategy of containing the North."
The country’s defense ministry requested a $36-billion budget on military spending in June this year. Last year, Seoul approved $33.4 billion in defense spending, or 4.9 percent lower the newly requested figure.
Park, who said increased defense capacities "opened the door to long-term dialogue and cooperation," cited a standoff with Pyongyang in August. At the height of tensions, North Korea reportedly fired shells at a South Korean military base across the demilitarized zone, prompting Seoul to respond by firing dozens of heavy artillery rounds.
The two countries reached a deal later that month stipulating measures to ease tensions and hold talks in the future.
