Korea Defense Blog

11) Sources:
yna.co.kr/view/AKR202510…

yna.co.kr/view/AKR201408���

joongang.co.kr/article/253292…

youtu.be/eFwGea7Is7w?si…

10) ... workers serving in combat capacities (incl operating armed vehicles or driving troop transports). Many of these cases may constitute violations of intl law, as civilians with unclear status may be knowingly drawn into combat.

9) ... & active reservists, a new form of volunteer part-time professional service that is currently still categorized as civilian work for the MND. Both are being increasingly used to fill gaps in the active military force, with all active reservists & even some civilian...

8) ... goes, he may or may not be correct. Regardless, without a radical alternative, such as universal conscription or foreign recruits, the Armed Forces may have little to no alternatives.
However, a discussion needs to be had about the legal status of civilian workers...

7) Logistics, maintenance, administration, other combat service support & even security jobs are being earmarked for outsourcing. Ahn points out that USFK Camp Humphreys has alr outsourced such jobs to civilians. Depending on how far-reaching his definition of support/security...

6) ... reasonable plan to address the manpower crisis. Firstly, Ahn acknowledged the need to maintain a 500k active force. In order to meet that goal again, he intends to convert 150k non-combat support postings into a mixed volunteer active reservist/civilian workforce.

5) ... suggested that conscription was an inefficient use of young people's time & proposed decreasing active service in favor of a volunteer force. This would cripple national defense & has fortunately not come to fruition.
His Minister of Natl Def has now come up with a more...

4) ... of military-aged males, the force fell below the min 500k in 2022 & may fall to 350k by 2040.
The most obvious solution, universal (male & female) conscription, is off the table due to being widely unpopular across many demographics.
President Lee Jae-myung previously...

3) Currently, around 85 to +90% of young men are conscripted into active duty military service. Among them are many unfit recruits, including people with lifelong medical issues preventing them from basic tasks, like holding a rifle or running.
Despite maximalist conscription...

2) The Armed Forces fell from 690k active troops in 2002 down to 570k in 2018 as the MND cut down to accommodate the decreasing conscription intakes, with a new reduced force model anchored at 500k - the bare minimum experts say is required to maintain defenses against the north.

1) Due to the world's lowest birthrates, a continuous & worsening decrease of military-aged males has led to extreme manpower shortages. Even after the disbandment of dozens of Army divisions & cuts across all branches, frontline units are struggling with a lack of troops.

🧵 on the planned manpower reform presented by the Republic of Korea Minister of National Defense Ahn Gyu-baek to overcome the extreme manpower crisis, with the ROK Armed Forces currently - and for the foreseeable future - severely understaffed.

🇰🇵 development of drones continues. Pictured are the Saetbyeol-4 (Morning Star) strategic UAV, clearly modeled after the 🇺🇲 RQ-4 Global Hawk and Geumseong (Venus) one-way attack drones, seemingly inspired by 🇮🇱/🇷🇺 models. Some experts suggest they may use AI tracking/targeting.

5) Sources:
joongang.co.kr/article/253675…
hisutton.com/North-Korea-Nu���
europeanleadershipnetwork.org/commentary/the…

4) 🇰🇷 has shared this intel with allied nations. An official statement/reaction by the administration is yet to follow. President Lee Jae-myeong is currently pursuing a renewal of talks & military de-escalation, marked by a reconciliatory attitude, despite 🇰🇵's dealings with 🇷🇺.

3) While some have argued that this may be a violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the NPT doesn't necessarily foresee restrictions on nuclear propulsion for military ships/submarines. 🇷🇺 is a signatory, while 🇰🇵 left in 2003 prior to its nuclear weapons tests.

2) 🇰🇵 media showed footage of Kim Jong-un inspecting an unfinished submarine suspected of being meant for nuclear propulsion & SLBMs on March 8th. Nuclear propulsion allows for longer operations, meaning the KPA Navy may be able to pose a new nuclear threat, especially to the US.

1) According to an anonymous official within the 🇰🇷 MND/Armed Forces, 🇷🇺's initially passive response to 🇰🇵's request changed this year. This is obviously to be viewed in the context of the two countries' new strategic alliance, which has seen 🇰🇵 aiding 🇷🇺's invasion of 🇺🇦.

🧵 🇰🇵 has been requesting transfers of key components for nuclear propulsion submarines & delivery of new fighter jets from 🇷🇺 since last year. 🇰🇷 is evaluating a reported delivery of 2~3 nuclear reactor modules taken from old 🇷🇺 submarines earlier this year.

동명부대 및 한빛부대 파견연장 추진 상세보기|뉴포커스 | 외교부 외교부 홈페이지에 오신것을 환영합니다.

Source: www.mofa.go.kr/www/brd/m_40...

Unsurprisingly, the Republic of Korea's participation in UNIFIL (UN Interim Force in Lebanon) will end together with the UN's mandate by 2027, with the Dongmyeong battalion scheduled to return to Korea and be deactivated.
The unit has helped Lebanon keep the peace for 18 years.

UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL): Vote on Final Mandate Renewal and Drawdown*

5) Sources:

www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/...

n.news.naver.com/mnews/articl...

4) UNIFIL's mandate mainly entails empowering the Lebanese government & its forces to control and secure their own territory. The ~300-strong ROKA battalion was first deployed in 2007 & is under the brigade-sized Sector West, itself part of the division-sized +10k-strong UNIFIL.

3) While other nations' peacekeepers have sustained casualties over the years, the ROK unit has been in a relatively safe area. The closest attack occurred on 23 Sep 2024, when two 155mm shells fired by IDF arty landed 1.2km from the ROK batallion's base.

2) Trump has claimed that UNIFIL "failed to contain" Hezbollah, though UN Under-Secretary General Lacroix added that disarming Hezbollah was never the mission's mandate.

1) With the Trump admin's wish to end UNIFIL (UN Interim Force in Lebanon), the UNSC voted to extend the mission for a final time until Dec 31 2026. The ROK MND has yet to comment on the future of the Army's Dongmyeong ("eastern light") battalion stationed in Tyre, Lebanon.

Russian plane secretly delivered dead North Korean soldiers to Pyongyang: KCTV | NK News A Russian cargo plane recently delivered 20 caskets carrying the remains of North Korean soldiers who died in the two countries’ joint war against Ukraine, DPRK state TV revealed for the first time Fr...

Sources:
www.nknews.org/2025/08/russ...
www.hani.co.kr/arti/interna...

North Korean state media has revealed that Kim Jong-un attended a ceremony for some of the KPA soldiers KIA on Aug 1. Prior to the main event, a Russian Il-76 cargo plane delivered 20 remains to Pyongyang Intl Airport.
Show this to deniers of NK's involvement in the Ukraine war.

A rifle platoon of 35 soldiers of the New Zealand Defence Force is currently training in Korea with ROK-US forces, with more deployments planned after their departure in October.
6k NZDF troops fought in the Korean War & they've been contributingn staff to UN Command since 1998.

6) Marine K1A2 MBTs, K9A1 Thunder SPHs & a K239 Chunmoo MLRS conducted live fire & maneuvers. Such wide training areas do not exist in Korea, ROK armor & artillery crewmen rarely get the opportunity to shoot at max range & maneuver freely.