South Korea Considers Conscription for Naturalized Citizens Amid Declining Population

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th November, 2019) The South Korean Defense Ministry is considering mandatory military service for naturalized citizens as a way of combating decreasing numbers of draftees amid a steeply declining population, South Korean media reported, citing a senior government official.

All able-bodied men in the Korean Republic are required to serve in the military for nearly two years, whereas naturalized Koreans, predominantly Chinese-born men, can opt out of conscription.

According to Yonhap news Agency, the military is conducting a study to determine whether adding the approximately 1,000 able-bodied men � the average number of annually naturalized men suitable to serve � can stem the flow of a shrinking conscription army.

A combat-ready reserve army is crucial for South Korea, which is on constant alert because of the unpredictable nature of neighbor North Korea.

South Korea is already adjusting the makeup of the army as a whole, announcing earlier in the day that it intends to reduce the number of troops from 599,000 to 500,000 by 2022.

The agency cited official data as counting 360,000 people required to serve in 2016, out of the country's roughly 50 million-strong population. This number is projected to fall to 225,000 by 2025 and 161,000 in 2038.

South Korea has one of the lowest birthrates in the world and a rapidly aging population, a problem shared with Japan and other advanced, post-industrial nations.