South Korea increases defence budget and pumps out patrol boats
Domestic shipbuilders continue to produce multiple new vessels for the Republic of Korean Navy (ROKN), even as the Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced a 7.5% defence budget increase for 2020.
After approval from the National Assembly in December, military spending in 2020 will rise to KRW50.15 trillion ($42 billion). This equates to about 2.5% of national GDP. Force modernisation funding within the overall defence budget will benefit from an 8.5% (KRW 16.7 trillion) rise.
In shipbuilding news, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced that four Patrol Killer Experimental-B (PKX-B) fast attack craft were launched by Hanjin Heavy Industries
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