South Korea's military strength is now at 450,000... a decrease of 110,000 in about six years

With South Korea's military strength falling to around 450,000, it has been revealed that 17 units at division level or above have been disbanded and merged.
This is the minimum necessary force size under the ceasefire situation with North Korea.
This means that the "500,000" that has been in place for the past two years has been collapsing.
According to the report, South Korea's military strength has decreased by 110,000 in about six years, from 560,000 in 2019 to 450,000 in July 2025.
Such reductions in military strength and disbanding of units have led to problems such as "difficulty in securing talented personnel" and "equipment operational incompetence."
Regarding this, Rep. Chu said, "The gradual introduction of selective recruitment, which was a campaign promise during the presidential election, and the gradual introduction of service conditions,
"We need to improve the system and build a combined manned and unmanned combat system," he suggested.