The government has drawn up a defense budget worth 46-point-seven trillion won for 2019, up eight-point-two percent from this year.

A Defense Ministry official said the growth is the highest to be posted since 2008 and nearly two times larger than the average growth of four-point-four percent between 2010 and 2017.

Of the defense budget, funds for boosting military capabilities grew 13-point-seven percent to around 15-point-four trillion won, accounting for nearly 33 percent of the total defense budget.

Among such funds, nearly five-point-one trillion won will go into the establishment of the country’s "three-axis" defense system, including the Kill Chain pre-emptive strike platform, to counter threats from North Korea.

Some one-point-six trillion won will be spent on expanding communication systems and reconnaissance assets in preparation for the transfer of wartime operational control from the U.S.