Japan to Allocate Defense Budget Over 60 Trillion Yen Next Year... Ninth Consecutive Year of Increase

Approximately 8 Trillion Won Larger Than South Korea's Defense Budget Proposal

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-gyu Lee] Japan has allocated the largest-ever defense-related budget to expand its offensive defense capabilities next year.

On the 30th, Japan's Ministry of Defense announced that the defense-related budget for the 2021 fiscal year (April 2021 to March 2022) was set at 5.4898 trillion yen (approximately 60.8 trillion KRW), a 3.3% increase from this year's 5.3133 trillion yen.

This amount is about 1% of Japan's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and approximately 8 trillion KRW more than South Korea's defense budget proposal for next year (52.9174 trillion KRW).

If this requested amount is finalized as is after consultations with Japan's Ministry of Finance and parliamentary review by March next year, it will be the largest ever, marking nine consecutive years of increases since the year following the inauguration of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet in 2013.

The Ministry of Defense explained that, marking the third year of implementing the "Mid-Term Defense Capability Development Plan," the next year's budget was drafted with a focus on building a multidimensional integrated defense capability.

Expenses for goods, including weapon purchases and development costs, increased by 3.2% to 3.2731 trillion yen, while personnel and food expenses rose by 3.5% to 2.2167 trillion yen.

By detailed category, the budget will be invested not only in strengthening traditional defense and offensive capabilities in the "sea and air" domains but also in new areas such as space, cyber, and electromagnetic waves.

666 billion yen will be spent on acquiring additional units of the cutting-edge stealth fighter jets F-35A (4 units) and F-35B (2 units).

For the purchase of stand-off missiles (JSM) equipped on the F-35A, which can strike from outside the enemy's threat range, 10.2 billion yen was allocated this year, followed by 17.2 billion yen for next year.

The Japanese government plans to gradually increase the total number of F-35 fighter jets to 147 units. For the development of the next-generation fighter jet to succeed the currently operated F2 fighter, 58.7 billion yen will be invested.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.