This country’s military has reduced by 20% in six years as male population declines due to…, not Russia, Japan, Turkey, it is…
In the past six years, South Korea’s military has shrunk by 20%, with the force now standing at 450,000 personnel, a report as cited by Reuters on Sunday stated. It is due to a drop in the number of men of enlistment age for mandatory service in the country with the world’s lowest birthrate. The report included a note from the Ministry of Defense that this huge drop is also creating a decline in officers, which will compound challenges to operations if the trend continues.
Which country’s military has reduced by 20% in just six years?
The South Korean military’s size has continually decreased since the early 2000s. The force had approximately 690,000 members in 2000, and the reduction accelerated towards the end of the 2010s. When the South Korean military was last reported in 2019, it had roughly 563,000 uniformed active soldiers and officers. According to the latest estimate by the defense ministry in 2022, North Korea is believed to maintain an active-duty military force of approximately 1.2 million personnel.
How is the shrinking male population impacting military recruitment?
According to the Government statistics, between 2019 and 2025, there has been a 30% decrease in 20-year-old males, declining to 230,000. This is the age at which most fit men are conscripted to serve in the military, which can last for up to 18 months.
The military viewed the shorter period of service as an improvement in capabilities because of the cooperation with the United States and the development of a defense industry that is now an important arms exporter.
As the military emphasized improved capabilities—notably through its alliance with the United States and a developing defense sector that is now a major weapons supplier—it has been noted as carrying a reduced effort.
In 1953, when the Korean War ended with an armistice, Able-bodied men had a duration of 36 months service. With a defense budget of over 61 trillion won ($43.9 billion), South Korea’s budget is larger than the estimated size of North Korea’s economy. Nonetheless, the ministry noted that for the military to maintain defense readiness, it is still short about 50,000 troops. Around 21,000 of these in the non-commissioned officer ranks.
South Korea is one of the fastest aging societies in the world and recently recorded the lowest fertility rate in the world at 0.75 in 2024, a striking figure representing the average number of children a woman is expected to bear during her reproductive lifespan. The country’s population, which peaked at 51.8 million in 2020, is projected by the government to decline to 36.2 million by 2072.
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