The Diplomat:
On Monday, South Korea said that its defense budget would grow markedly over the next five years amid a growing perception of threats from North Korea.
According to Yonhap News, South Korean defense spending will grow by $214.7 billion (232 trillion won) between 2016 and 2020. The annual rate of increase will be roughly 7 percent.
About $143.2 billion of the projected budget injection will go toward the maintenance cost of troops and the remainder will go toward improving military capabilities, including investments in research and development for South Korea’s preemptive strike, missile defense, and air defense apparatuses.
This will include the South Korea’s Kill Chain, Korean Air and Missile Defnese (KAMD) system, and other initiatives.
KAMD is similar to what the United States is offering South Korea with the controversial Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system—THAAD has drawn criticism from China which sees the technology as damaging to its national interests.
With a fully implemented Kill Chain, South Korea would theoretically be able to counter any North Korean preemptive attack within minutes in a war scenario…
