South Korea has increased next year's budget for defense to its highest level ever.
According to South Korea's defense ministry on Monday, the defense budget for 2017 has been set at 34 billion U.S. dollars
That's an increase of four percent from this year and represents ten percent of the entire government budget.
Roughly 24 billion dollars has been allocated for troops and facilities, while a little over 10 billion dollars will be used to boost the country's combat capabilities.
This is the first time the annual defense budget has gone over 34 billion dollars.
The ministry says the budget was increased to better cope with North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.
North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests and over 20 ballistic missile launches this year alone.
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