ROK Army to reduce KATUSA recruitment by over 25%

KATUSAs salute during a 60th anniversary ceremony of the establishment of KATUSA at USAG Yongsan in Seoul, in this October 2010 photo. The Korean Army plans to reduce KATUSA recruitment by over 25 percent by 2022. Korea Times file

By Kim Hyun-bin

The Republic of Korea (ROK) Army will drastically reduce the number of soldiers selected for the Korean Augmentation to the United States Army (KATUSA) starting next year, as fewer are needed due to the relocation of U.S. bases to the newly expanded U.S. Army Garrison (USAG) Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, according to ROK Army sources, Wednesday.

This is the first time for the Army to curtail its KATUSA selection.

Each year, the ROK Army selects around 2,000 troops to become KATUSAs, but that number will be slashed to 1,600 next year and continue to be reduced through 2022.

"The reduction in KATUSA selection is part of the nation's ongoing defense reforms, and also in line with the decreasing number of conscripts and the realignment of personnel at the Eighth United States Army. The number will be reduced further in phases in the coming years," a ROK Army official told The Korea Times.

There are currently about 3,500 KATUSAs, including commissioned and non-commissioned officers, but the ROK Army plans to reduce this by up to 900 by 2022, a decrease of over 25 percent.

In late 2018, 2,026 KATUSAs were selected among 14,251 applicants to be conscripted this year, a competition rate of 6.9 to 1.

With the Army choosing only 1,600 for next year, the competition has become much fiercer, according to the results of applications accepted from Sept. 18 to 24.

"There were 16,760 KATUSA applicants for 2020 and they will go through a 10.5-to-1 competition, much higher than last year's 6.9 to 1," Jung Sung-deuk, deputy spokesman at the Military Manpower Administration, told The Korea Times, Wednesday.

The KATUSAs troops will be selected out of a random lottery on Nov. 7 after a screening process and those selected will be able to choose the month they will enlist in 2020.

Earlier this year, the ROK Army came under fire for mismanaging KATUSAs as five of them went absent without leave (AWOL) for up to 32 days before being caught by military police in March.

Another, a sergeant, went AWOL on and off a U.S. base for over five months before being discharged from the Army at the end of his mandatory service term in May. The incident was made known after a fellow KATUSA blew the whistle on him via a military hotline.

The ROK Army said the decision to reduce the number of KATUSAs was not related to the AWOL cases, claiming the plan was first discussed last year.

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