North’s defense bill put at 43% of budget
North Korea’s defense spending this year is estimated at $5 billion, more than double the published budget, the South Korean government reported yesterday.According to intelligence documents, the Supreme People’s Assembly, North Korea’s legislature, on March 26 approved a defense budget of $1.8 billion, 15.4 percent of the country’s total budget of $11.5 billion.
North Korea declared a $1.5 billion defense budget last year, but actually spent some $5 billion, intelligence authorities said. They estimated that it would continue to increase defense spending. If the North spends $5 billion this year, that would amount to 43.5 percent of the country’s total budget.
South Korea’s defense budget for this year is 17 trillion won ($14.5 billion), amounting to 15.6 percent of the total state budget.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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