South Korea’s Military Prepares for Drone Threats from North Korea: Doubling Inventory by 2026

Our military plans to double its drone inventory by 2026 in preparation for potential drone invasions from North Korea.

South Korean Presidential National Security Office chief Chang Ho Jin held the 4th Defense Innovation Committee at the Presidential Office in Yongsan, Seoul, on the morning of the 2nd. The committee discussed two items: drone power enhancement plans and maximizing the utilization of existing forces.

As a first step, the South Korean government plans to diversify acquisition methods by invigorating a quick acquisition of domestic commercial drones and revisiting the pace to deploy R&D drones into force. Then, the government intends to secure numerous drones quickly with increased budget investment. Through this, the South Korean military plans to dramatically strengthen its readiness against North Korea’s drone threats by securing more than twice the current number of drones by 2026.

Also, the government decided to actively identify and improve the operational field’s needs for the weapon systems deployed in the military, thereby enhancing combat readiness. For this, the budget for improving the performance of weapon systems, which is currently 1% of the defense improvement cost, will be significantly expanded to 5%.

Furthermore, based on the improvements in welfare, such as pay raises and improved living conditions, the government decided to actively improve the conditions for soldiers of the Chankkeut forces to fulfill their duties. The term Chankkeut forces refers to the units that face the enemy on the front lines, including army battalion-level units, naval ship operating units, and air force squadrons.

In particular, the government plans to improve inefficient unit operation practices and systems to increase the support rate for junior officers and enhance the conditions for middle-ranking combat commanders to serve with pride and vision.

After the agenda report, there was a discussion among the committee members, answers from the relevant ministries, and suggestions. The opinions of the Defense Innovation Committee members are expected to be reflected in defense policy.

This is the fourth meeting in which the Defense Innovation Committee members and the government have discussed key defense innovation agendas since the launch of the Presidential Defense Innovation Advisory Council on May 11 last year.

The council attendees were civilian committee members, including Kim Kwan Jin, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Defense Committee, and the governmental committee Chief Chang Ho Jin. Key attendees included the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Chiefs of Staff of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, the Deputy Minister of National Defense, the Administrator of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, the Director of the Research and Development Policy Office of the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Director of the Small and Medium Enterprise Policy Office of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and the Administrative Defense Budget Review Officer of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. From the Presidential Office, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Vice Chiefs of the National Security Office and the Defense Secretary attended.