South Korea is short of critical military repair parts that should be in stock for possible combat operations, a lawmaker said Wednesday, warning the shortage could "considerably" hinder wartime missions.

Citing reports from the defense ministry, Rep. Kim Hack-yong of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party said that the military had set a goal of acquiring 653,000 repair parts last year, but its actual stockpile stood at 512,000, or 78.4 percent of the target figure.

Kim was referring to the "combat critical repair parts" for Army tanks, Navy destroyers, Air Force fighter jets and other military equipment that need to remain fully operational without foreign aid for two months after the outbreak of war.

"The shortage of the parts in the early stage of war could pose a considerable impediment and cause a security crisis," Kim said in a statement. "Each armed service should make sufficient efforts to accurately estimate and manage the needed stockpile for wartime operations."

The lawmaker also pointed out that in some cases, the military failed to set the right acquisition target for general military operations, which led many parts to be left unused for as long as a decade. (Yonhap)