South Korean Military to Cut 120,000 Troops By 2022

It appears over the course of the Moon Jae-in presidency the South Korean military will be shrunk considerably:

 

South Korea’s military will reduce the number of troops to half a million by 2022 as part of a new round of defense reforms, the Ministry of National Defense said Friday.

The mandatory service period of rank-and-file soldiers will be shortened to 18 months from the current 21 months, according to the ministry’s report to Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon on its 2018 policies.

South Korea has 620,000 troops, including 483,000 Army service members, compared to North Korea’s 1.1 million armed forces.

The left-leaning Moon Jae-in administration has pushed for the so-called defense reform 2.0 aimed at making the nation’s military smaller but stronger.

It is seeking to expand the employment of civilians for non-combat missions, with more active-duty soldiers assigned to field operations. The number of general-grade officers, currently totaling around 430, will be adjusted. Some expect it to decrease by 70-80.

The ministry plans to complete a master plan for military reform by April for speedy legislative procedures.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but I have to wonder where the saved money from the personnel costs will be going to?

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Doug
Doug
6 years ago

Moon is a complete fool and the people who support him are bigger fools

Flyingsword
Flyingsword
6 years ago

Time for the US to leave. South Koreans don’t want to serve and protect their own country the US shouldn’t stay to take up the slack. Oh, 18 months is not enough time to become proficient in any military job.

rocketman
rocketman
6 years ago

Moon is going to shrink the military to make it easier for the North to take over. Less resistance. Once the North takes over, Moon will probably be first in line for a new position with Kim. He’ll be the first from the South to inspect bullets from the anti-aircraft guns. Oh $hit!!!

J6Junkie
J6Junkie
6 years ago

Disarmament, then surrender. *facepalm

setnaffa
setnaffa
6 years ago

Don’t worry. The money will be used to fund the new “Moonshine Policy”…

But with South Korea “Mooning” tbe USA, I fully expect Trump to ignore their wishes as regards any preemptive strikes.

Jon Paul
Jon Paul
6 years ago

Might this be a canary in the mine for problems with revenue and spending in the coming year? It looks good to Moon’s base, the teacher’s union and so forth, and it will actually save him some money. Question is, as stated in the post: what does he want it for, why does he need it?

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