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President Yoon Suk-yeol delivers his address on the 2023 budget bill to the National Assembly on Oct. 25. (pool photo)

Commenting on recent shows of force by North Korea with its missile testing and firing of multiple rocket launchers, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said the North “appears to have already completed preparations for a seventh nuclear test.”

His message was that, in light of the severe security situation, the National Assembly needs to pass next year’s budget plan by the legally designated deadline of Dec. 2.

In an administrative policy speech before the National Assembly on the 2023 budget, Yoon said Tuesday that North Korea has “recently continued to engage in threatening provocations with unprecedented frequency, including the launching of ballistic missiles.”

“This is both a grave violation of UN Security Council resolutions and a direct challenge to the international community,” he stressed.

Yoon explained that he intended to “reinforce deterrence against North Korea with overwhelming capabilities based on the South Korea-US allied defense posture and South Korea-US-Japan security cooperation so that the [South Korean] people can go about their lives with peace of mind.”

“When it comes to overcoming our severe economic and security situation, there can be no distinction between ‘ruling party’ and ‘opposition.’ The National Assembly’s cooperation is urgently needed,” he insisted.

Yoon explained that his budget for next year includes costs for more advanced weaponry to respond to security threats. He also announced plans to “increase investment for the transition toward complex manned and unmanned weapons systems such as robots and drones; military reconnaissance satellite development; and increased military strength to prepare for future battlefields, including cyber warfare.”

The budget includes an investment of 5.3 trillion won (US$3.7 billion) toward improving the capabilities of the Hyunmoo missile, F-35A fighter aircraft, and Patriot missile and boosting Korea's three-axis system with long-range artillery interception capabilities and more.

At the same time, Yoon stressed, “If North Korea makes the decision to denuclearize and agrees to dialogue, our government will provide political and economic support through the ‘audacious initiative’ that I set forth in my inaugural address and [National Liberation Day] celebratory address.”

Yoon further underscored the importance of economic security.

“Amid the global trend of industry and resource weaponization and the establishment of supply chain ‘blocs,’ cooperation with countries that share our values has taken on paramount importance,” he said.

“We must bolster our economic security capabilities to prepare for the intensifying wave of economic bloc formation,” he stressed.

He further announced plans to “respond to the supply chain crisis by expanding investment in the development of overseas resources, while investing 3.2 trillion won toward diversification of import sources and stockpiling of minerals such as nickel and aluminum.”

In a briefing after Yoon’s speech, Choi Sang-mok, the senior secretary to the president for economic affairs, responded to comments that the overseas resource development plan “sounds like the Lee Myung-bak administration’s resource diplomacy approach.”

“We have faced problems with supply chains being used as weapons or the objects of competition between countries, as well as interruptions stemming from COVID-19,” he explained.

“The difference [from Lee’s approach] is that we are strengthening our supply chain response capabilities in various respects,” he added.

By Kim Mi-na, staff reporter

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