[Anchor]

As the Iran war falls into a protracted quagmire, the financial burden on the United States is also growing. The Trump administration has requested additional funding equivalent to double the amount spent on the war so far, drawing a barrage of criticism in the U.S. Congress, with lawmakers denouncing it as a failed war.

Correspondent Jeon Byeong-nam reports from Washington.

[Reporter]

President Trump has requested an emergency additional funding of 67 billion dollars, a staggering 99 trillion won, from Congress for the war with Iran, prompting a U.S. Senate hearing on the matter.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth argued that about 37.5 billion dollars, roughly 55.5 trillion won, has been spent on the Iran war so far, and that twice that amount is needed. This sparked fierce rebukes from the opposition party, which slammed the campaign as a failed war with no strategy for victory.

[Gary Peters / U.S. Senator (Democrat) : You are the loser. You have no strategy. You don't have a long-term plan to actually win this war. Win this war! When on earth are you going to show leadership?]

[Pete Hegseth / U.S. Secretary of Defense : Why don't you show some leadership and stand up to your fellow Democrats who refuse to pass defense budgets and just engage in partisan bickering?]

[Gary Peters / U.S. Senator (Democrat) : This is not about money. This is about leadership and whether you understand what it actually takes to win.]

Even a Republican senator raised doubts over President Trump's public vow to strike Iran's underground nuclear facility at Pickaxe Mountain.

[John Kennedy / U.S. Senator (Republican) : We need candid answers. Do we have the capability to destroy whatever is underneath Pickaxe Mountain?]

Secretary Hegseth's remarks were interrupted four times as audience members shouted anti-war slogans.

[Audience Member : Stop the bombing of children in Iran and Palestine! It is illegal! The American people do not want this.]

Ultimately, Democrats made it clear they oppose the additional budget, arguing that the public does not support the war.

[Jeanne Shaheen / U.S. Senator (Democrat) : On top of bloated budgets, how much longer do you plan to foist the costs of a war that the public does not support onto the American people?]

Amid growing sentiments within the Republican Party that approving the budget will not be easy, U.S. media reported that the depletion of the defense budget is causing disruptions to certain training exercises, while maintenance funds for equipment and facilities are being diverted to the Iran war.

(Video reporting: Park Eun-ha, Video editing: Cho Mu-hwan)