(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) South Korea plans to cut its standing forces from the current 640,000 to 522,000 by 2022, while increasing the ratio of non-commissioned officers with specific technical expertise and skills, the defense ministry said Thursday.
The defense reform plan for 2014-2030 takes into account the shrinking birth rate in a country where all able-bodied men must complete at least two years of military service to counter North Korea's 1.2 million strong army, (Yonhap) News Agency reporte
"Considering the decreasing number of available draftees, the ratio of soldiers will naturally go down unless they serve shorter terms," a senior ministry official in charge of the reform plan sai
"The key is to recruit more non-commissioned officers, who are professional soldiers, to keep pace with the current trend." Most of the reduction will come from the Army, which heavily relies on conscript
The number will be cut from 498,000 to 387,000 in the next eight year
The manpower of the other branches will remain unchanged at 41,000 for the Navy, 65,000 for the Air Force and 29,000 for the Marine Corp
By rank, the number of soldiers will shrink to 300,000 from 446,000, while the number of non-commissioned officers will increase to 152,000 from the current 116,00
"The military plans to recruit more non-commissioned officers to train them as highly skilled forces," the official sai
"The missions that need technical skills or high levels of experience will gradually move to non-commissioned officers from soldiers." The military leadership has annually modified the reform plan since 2005, and the latest proposal was first announced by President Park Geun-hye, who took office in early 201
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