The South Korean military will increase its budget for improving military capabilities by 10.8 percent on average for the next half-decade, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced in a five-year plan on Friday.

The “medium-term plan” for 2019 to 2023 will see the government allocate a total of KRW 270.7 trillion (USD$242 billion) to defense.

That spending will see Seoul increase its defense spending by an average of 7.5 percent year on year — well above the average rate of 4.9 percent between 2009 and 2018.

The budget increase aims to implement policies, including Seoul’s “Defense Reform 2.0” program,