Army to curtail troops for combat efficiency

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Suh Wook speaks in an opening remark of the National Assembly's annual audit, Friday, at the Gyeryongdae military headquarters in South Chungcheong Province. Yonhap

By Lee Min-hyung

The Army plans to curtail the number of troops to around 365,000 by the end of 2022 to enhance combat efficiency and deal with the decreasing population, the land force said Friday in the National Assembly's annual audit.

This is a 10 percent cut from the current number of around 464,000. The Army explained the decision is also part of the military's efforts to maximize operational efficiency by replacing the decreasing number of soldiers with state-of-the-art combat equipment, such as unmanned aerial vehicles and counter-artillery radar.

“The Army is actively pushing ahead with developing and introducing next-generation game changers, including a drone-driven combat system and the Warrior Platform advanced military gear,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. Suh Wook said in an opening remark of the audit.

Under the ongoing Defense Reform 2.0 drive, the South Korean military is going all-out to simplify operational management within military camps of the Army, Air Force, Navy and the Marine Corps.

The Army also said it would continue to embrace emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, to develop more advanced weapons systems.

Specially, the military branches also said they plan to finish developing an anti-aircraft laser weapon that can detect and strike small drones at close range before the end of 2023, the Army said.

The decision came amid military threats from North Korea. Suh said the North has started developing combat drones, even if their threat level remains low.

“We will keep making efforts to deal with the Fourth Industrial Revolution by reducing the number of troops and ensure the safety of the Korean Peninsula,” Suh said.

The remarks came amid lingering security uncertainty on the peninsula amid reviving tension with North Korea. The North has in recent months started conducting a series of missile provocations, in an apparent show of force against joint military exercises between Seoul and Washington.

The breakdown of the Hanoi summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was also attributable to the resumption of the North's military provocations.