경항공모함 착수 등... 국방부 2021 부터 2025 중기계획 밝혀<br /><br />South Korea will roll out enhanced submarines capable of carrying more ballistic missiles and develop its own interceptor system like Israel's Iron Dome in the next five years.<br />This is part of the nation's mid to long-term initiative to beef up its military capabilities.<br />Seoul's defense ministry unveiled its five-year blueprint today... and it shows a clear determination to meet the standards in taking back the wartime operational control on schedule.<br />Our Kim Do-yeon reports.<br />The South Korean military on Monday unveiled its blueprint for mid-term defense plans for the period 2021 to 2025, which includes a plan to develop light aircraft carriers starting next year.<br />The goal is to have them operational after 2026.<br />Also, within a few years, it plans to add submarines with displacements of 36-hundred to 4-thousand tons... along with destroyers equipped with locally developed missile systems.<br />In addition to dominance on the seas, the South Korean military plans to add to its air power, upgrading the AESA (ah-EE-sah) radars on its KF-16s and F15Ks... to generation 4-point-5.<br />A fighter jet is also in development, the KF-X, which would make South Korea the 13th country in the world to have fighter jets designed and produced domestically.<br />And for service members, there'll be better pay and benefits.<br />South Koreans serving their mandatory military duty will get around 800 U.S. dollars a month starting in 2025,... up from around 550 dollars a month currently.<br />With the number of women in service continuing to rise, the ministry is also looking to improve facilities for women in and around the bases.<br />And automation will allow the military to reduce the number of active-duty personnel, which right now is at 555-thousand... but by the end of 2022 is planned to be 500-thousand.<br />The overall plan calls for spending worth around 250 billion U.S. dollars over the five years.<br />The ministry said that the plan is to build a stronger military and to prepare for the transfer of wartime operational control from the U.S.<br />Kim Do-yeon, Arirang News.<br />
