Looking at North Korea's Military Spending... "World's Highest Relative to GDP, One-Quarter of South Korea's Level"

North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un met with and encouraged the medical personnel (medical units) of the military who completed their missions and achieved meritorious service in the emergency epidemic prevention battle on the 18th, delivering a congratulatory speech and taking commemorative photos, according to Korean Central TV on the 19th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] North Korea was found to have the highest military expenditure as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) among countries. However, the scale is estimated to be up to 25% compared to South Korea's military spending.

Recently, the U.S. Department of State released the '2021 World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers Report (WMEAT),' which disclosed the ratio of military expenditure to GDP for 170 countries worldwide in 2019.

According to the report, North Korea spent 14.9% to 26.4% of its GDP on military expenses in 2019, the highest ratio among the 170 countries. Oman (11.8%) and Saudi Arabia (9.7%) followed. South Korea's military expenditure was 2.6% to 2.7% of its GDP.

However, North Korea's military spending was estimated between $4.31 billion (approximately 5.75 trillion KRW) and $11 billion (approximately 14.7 trillion KRW). South Korea's spending ranged from $43.9 billion (approximately 58.65 trillion KRW) to $69.7 billion (approximately 93.11 trillion KRW).

While North Korea had the highest military expenditure ratio relative to GDP, in terms of absolute amount, North Korea's spending was 9.8% to 18% of South Korea's. The report estimated North Korea's military expenditure to be between 7% and 25% of South Korea's. The range of estimates varies depending on the method of converting the currency value into U.S. dollars, the report added.

Some pointed out that communist countries, including North Korea, have lower transparency and reliability in calculating military expenditures. Since research and development costs, weapons manufacturing, and advanced foreign weapon imports are excluded, it is explained that evaluations should not be made solely based on the figures.

On the 13th of last month (local time), the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Benfold, belonging to the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet, was conducting operations in the South China Sea. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, the United States had the highest military expenditure amount. According to the report, the U.S. spent a total of $730 billion on military expenses in 2019, the largest scale.

China ranked second with $254 billion to $417 billion. It was followed by Saudi Arabia ($69.5 billion to $147 billion), India ($67.5 billion to $225 billion), and Russia ($65.1 billion to $170 billion). Japan spent between $47.6 billion and $54.5 billion on military expenses.

Additionally, the report estimated the total global military expenditure in 2019 to be between $1.94 trillion and $2.96 trillion. This corresponds to 1.7% to 2.2% of the world's GDP.

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