South Korea has lost 20 percent soldiers. The reason for demographics

The number of South Korea army has decreased by 20 percent. Over the past six years, due to the sharp decline in the number of men of conscript, the Ministry of Defense in Seoul, quoted on Sunday by Reuters, said. South Korea has the lowest fertility rate in the world.

The authors of the report warned that a dramatic decrease in the number of men of conscript also causes a shortage of officers, which in the future may make it difficult to conduct operational activities. The report was drawn up at the request of the deputy ruling democratic party sensation.

The South Korean army currently has about 450,000 soldiers, which is much less than in the early two -thousand years, when it was about 690 thousand. The army said that he currently lacks 50,000 soldiers to maintain readiness to defend the country.

For comparison, North Korea, who had been in conflict with the southern neighbor, for decades, according to the local defense ministry in 2022 had about 1.2 million soldiers. At the same time, the budget of the South Korean army in 2025 was about $ 44 billion, which is more than the entire North Korean economy.

According to government data in the years between 2019 and 2025, the number of men aged 20 in South Korea. decreased by 30 percent, to 230 thousand. At this age, men must undergo compulsory military service, which lasts a year and a half.

At the end of the Korean war, efficient men served in the army for three years, but the South Korea alliance from the USA and technological development allowed to shorten this time.

In 2024, South Korea had the lowest fertility rate in the world, of 0.75 a child per woman. Most inhabitants – 51.8 million – had the country in 2020. According to government forecasts, until 2072, this number will drop to 36.2 million (PAP)

AWM/ AKL/