It’s About Damn Time

… Korea started paying the cost of its own defense. Which is why the most dovish South Korean president ever is forced to seek a very large increase in defense spending:

South Korea’s defense ministry said yesterday that it has requested a 9.9 percent increase in the defense budget for 2007.
….

In a proposal submitted to the Ministry of Planning and Budget, the military seeks to secure 24.75 trillion won ($25 billion) for the coming year, up from a revised 22.5 trillion won this year, the defense ministry said in a statement.

The ministry plans in 2007 to spend 6.91 trillion won, or 27.9 percent of the total defense budget, to build up its military capacity, up from 25.8 percent this year. The ministry has already mapped out a 2006-2010 defense strategy. Under the plan, it will spend 27.6 billion won next year to launch a project to purchase guided weapons, including joint direct attack munitions with an integrated global positioning system and long-range anti-submarine torpedoes.

In 2007, the ministry will also start a project to secure an additional 20 “F-15 fighter-level” jets to beef up its air defense capability.

Do a line-by-line comparison of this budget increase and what the USFK had provided; it’s apparent that aside from a long-overdue pay raise for the ROK troops, this is a downpayment on post-USFK independent defense.

Meanwhile, in completely unrelated news, ruling party lawymakers continue to fret over the political cost of stiff tax increases. Yes, this will be a good thing for both Korea and the United States.