Official data released in South Korea today revealed that the size of the armed forces has dwindled to 450,000 soldiers, falling short of the minimum required threshold of 500,000 for a ceasefire situation. This results in a shortfall of 50,000 personnel.
According to statistics shared by the Ministry of Defense and the Military Manpower Administration with ruling Democratic Party lawmaker Cho Mi-ae, the military has lost approximately 110,000 personnel since 2019. The army’s ground forces have been particularly affected, leading to the disbandment or consolidation of 17 military units at the division level.
The Ministry of Defense attributed this decline primarily to the decreasing birth rate in the country, along with a reduction in the number of candidates applying to become officers.
Furthermore, a report from Yonhap News highlighted that this shortage arises at a time when the two Koreas remain technically at war, following the armistice that ended their conflict from 1950 to 1953, rather than through a formal peace treaty.