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| M-SAM Launcher, part of the Korea Air & Missile Defense System |
SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- South Korea plans to increase next year's budget to develop its homegrown missile defense system amid rising nuclear and missile threats from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Yonhap news agency reported on Tuesday.
Among the 2017 defense budget, 1.58 trillion won (1.43 billion U.S. dollars) would be set apart for development costs of the indigenous anti-missile program.
The 2017 costs allocated to develop so-called Kill Chain and Korea Air & Missile Defense (KAMD) systems were up 3.8 percent from 2016 to prepare for growing DPRK nuclear and missile threats, Yonhap said.
The total defense budget for 2017 reached 40.33 trillion won, up 4 percent from this year. The defense budget, which topped 40 trillion won for the first time, was submitted to the National Assembly for deliberations.
The submission followed the DPRK's test-launch on Monday of three Rodong ballistic missiles that traveled about 1,000 km into eastern waters.
Read the full story at Xinhua