(LEAD) Defense chief calls for military reform to respond to changing security environment

SEOUL, June 9 (Yonhap) -- Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back on Tuesday underscored the need to overhaul the military, including by expanding the use of artificial intelligence (AI), to better respond to the future warfare landscape and personnel shortages.

Ahn made the remarks during a seminar outlining plans to reform the military by 2040, as Seoul seeks to better address advancing threats from North Korea and cope with declining military manpower.

"We are at a time when dramatic change is necessary to preemptively respond to a complex security environment and the changes in the paradigm of warfare," Ahn said.

Under the plan, the ministry aims to expand the use of manned-unmanned teaming combat systems incorporating drones and robots, due to a drop in the number of men of enlistment age for mandatory service.

The plan also calls for increasing the outsourcing of troops in non-combat scenarios.

Although the nation is expected to struggle to enlist men due to the shrinking birth rate, the military plans to maintain its level of standing troops at some 500,000 by 2040 by expanding the number of noncommissioned officers and full-time reserve forces.

The plan calls for increasing the proportion of officers from the current 40 percent to 67 percent.

According to the defense ministry, the number of men eligible for military service dropped to 257,000 in 2022 from 332,000 in 2019.

The ministry has formed a task force to push for the defense reform plan since September last year and plans to finalize the details of the reform plan by next month.

This photo, provided by the defense ministry, shows Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back speaking during a seminar on defense reform in Seoul on June 9, 2026. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)