The total military manpower in South Korea has decreased by 20% over the last six years and stands at around 450,000. Most of the arguments for their downsizing can be traced back to a substantial drop in the number of eligible males for compulsory military service, a reduced global birthrate of 0.75 at 2024. It’s largely due to a sharp drop in the population of males of enlistment age for mandatory service in the country with the world’s lowest birthrate, a report said on Sunday.
The study was presented to Choo Mi-ae, a member of parliament for the ruling Democratic Party, whose office then made it public.
Demographic Decline
The 20-year-old males or other similar standards considered for military service enlistment have reduced from 300,000 in 2019 down to 230,000 today, having received a decrease of above 30% by 2025 much of this nosedive has created a shortage of about 50,000 military personnel, with 21,000 deficiencies relating to noncommission officers.
Since the early 2000s, when it had roughly 690,000 personnel, South Korea’s military has been slowly losing ground. In the late 2010s, the pace quickened, and in 2019, there were roughly 563,000 officers and troops on active service.
According to the defense ministry’s most recent projection from 2022, North Korea’s active-duty military is estimated to number around 1.2 million.
Strategic Adjustments and Future Projection
To solve the problems, South Korea shortened the legally required duration of military service from 36 months for servicepeople initially enlisting between 1953 and 18 months, referring to optimized capabilities through alliances and development of the defense technology itself. The military had been confronting challenges with personnel shortages despite a defense budget surpassing 61 trillion won ($43.9 billion) earmarked for the year 2025.
South Korea’s total population is estimated to increase to a high of 51.8 million and reduce to about 36.2 million by 2072. Such does not present an easy ride for national security and defense readiness challenges.
The demography of South Korea has caused the present crisis in military manpower. To address these changes, it will be important to have a wide range of options, including policy changes and international cooperation, to build long-term sustained defense capabilities against the declining population.
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