In December of last year, the budget for 2022 was passed with difficulty, just one day before the legal deadline.
The budget process suffered because of the basic design budget of 7.2 billion won for the 'Light Aircraft Carrier (Light Aircraft Carrier)' project.
An air base floating on the sea, an aircraft carrier.
Among them, the light carrier refers to a relatively small aircraft carrier using the character 'Kyeong (輕)', which is light.
Korea plans to build a 265m-long, 30,000-ton light carrier at a cost of 2.6 trillion won by 2033.
The project started with the passage of the starting budget, but the controversy over the light carrier continues.
Recently, neighboring countries in Korea are accelerating the introduction of aircraft carriers.
Japan converted the helicopter frigate Izumo into a light carrier, while China already has two carriers and is building two more.
Proponents of the introduction of light carriers say that as the importance of maritime security increases in the future, the Korean military also needs carriers.
Opponents, on the other hand, argue that the effectiveness is low relative to the input cost.
"It is a turtle ship of the 21st century." vs "The money eater Hamada."
Amid the conflicting pros and cons among experts as well as the ruling and opposition parties, new opinions are pouring in regarding the light aircraft carrier.
Interest in the light carrier business is getting hotter, even claiming that we should make a Korean-style carrier and export it to create a new industry or develop a Korean-style aircraft carrier.
In this week's SBS <News Story>, we would like to focus on the various controversies surrounding the light carrier and new possibilities.