South Korea defense budget set to rise 4.5%, roughly matching Japan

South Korea's Defense Ministry is seeking a 55.2 trillion won ($47.7 billion) budget for next year, up 4.5 percent from the previous year and roughly matching neighboring Japan's.The plan, unveiled by the ministry on Tuesday, will be submitted to the National Assembly later this week for approval.The ministry would allocate about 13.7 trillion won to procure assets like surveillance satellites and ballistic missile early warning radar systems, to upgrade missiles, and to improve capabilities to respond to nonmilitary threats, such as by acquiring a submarine rescue ship.The ministry's budge…READ FULL ARTICLE