韩国公布2027年国防预算：KF-21量产预算翻倍至3.3万亿韩元，首设核潜艇项目

The South Korean government will allocate 3.3 trillion won ($2.4 billion) to mass production of the KF-21 fighter jet, more than double this year's level, and will invest 96.6 billion won in developing a nuclear-powered submarine for the first time. Spending on advanced capabilities such as artificial intelligence, robots and drones will also rise to prepare for a shrinking troop pool and future warfare.
Under the 2027 budget plan announced by the government on the 1st, defense spending will increase 8.2% to 73.2777 trillion won next year from 67.704 trillion won this year. Excluding changes in accounting standards, such as the transfer of the military pension fund, the figure rises 9.0% to 71.8 trillion won from 65.9 trillion won. Force operation costs will expand to 50.0416 trillion won from 47.2318 trillion won, while defense capability improvement spending will grow to 22.7112 trillion won from 19.9544 trillion won.
In preparation for the transfer of wartime operational control, the budget for KF-21 mass production will rise to 3.3 trillion won from 1.4 trillion won. The government will spend 134.8 billion won on infiltration equipment for special warfare forces and 550.4 billion won on 230-millimeter unguided rockets for the Chunmoo multiple rocket launcher. Those are sharp increases from 9.8 billion won and 180.3 billion won, respectively, this year. A newly created 96.6 billion won line item will fund the Jangbogo-III Batch-III nuclear-powered submarine program, which aims to launch its lead vessel in the mid-2030s.
The government is also concentrating funds on modernizing the military's structure. Investment in manned-unmanned teaming systems using AI, robots and drones will grow to 1.2 trillion won from 800 billion won. It will allocate 50 billion won to upgrade the automated surveillance system at general outposts along the frontline and 169.9 billion won for robots that detect and remove explosives.
Research and development on defense semiconductors will also begin, at a scale of 56.5 billion won. For the development of AI-based suicide drone swarms, a program with total costs of about 280 billion won, the government has reflected an initial payment of 100 million won for next year. It will also spend 2.1 billion won in the first year to purchase multi-legged walking robots for guard, reconnaissance and suppression missions.
To respond to the declining number of troops, the government will improve pay and conditions for junior officers and operating conditions in the military. It will raise the pay improvement rate by 5.9%, lifting total compensation for first-year staff sergeants to about 3 million won a month. Incentive payments for short-term service noncommissioned officers will rise to 12 million won from 10 million won, with the related budget increasing to 115.2 billion won from 53.2 billion won. A pilot program to outsource non-combat tasks such as weeding, facility management and base security to the private sector will receive 3.4 billion won.