North Korean parliament announces increase in 2023 defence budget

North Korea’s parliament has passed a budget that sustains a high level of defense spending, the same proportion as since 2020, to support efforts on “further bolstering up the war deterrence both in quality and quantity” and “defending the dignity and security of the country and the people”.

As reported by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), this was decided at the 8th Session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) which took place from January 17 to 18.

According to the statement by the assembly, the state budget of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will grow by 1.7% in 2023. 45% of the budget will be allocated to the development of the country’s economy and improvement of life in the DPRK. Spending on education and the development of science and technology will increase by 0.7 per cent, on health care by 0.4 per cent, on culture and the construction of residential, industrial and public facilities by 0.3 per cent, and on sports by 0.1 per cent.