South Korea will rapidly expand its drone and counter-drone capabilities to counter North Korea, including by training 500,000 “drone warriors” and distributing tens of thousands of unmanned systems across frontline units, the South Korean Defense Ministry said on Friday.
The military also plans to produce 110,000 drones by 2029 for deployment across the army, navy, air force and marines, aiming to make drones a standard item for individual soldiers.
“Drones should no longer be equipment used by a limited number of units, but a universal combat tool,” South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said in a briefing, adding they should be used by troops like a “second personal weapon.”
Ahn said Seoul would rely on 100% domestically produced components rather than Chinese parts in building the systems, in response to security concerns.
The announcement comes as both Koreas accelerate efforts to build drone capabilities, shaped by lessons from conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, where unmanned systems have emerged as game changers on the battlefield.
“Low-cost drones operated in large numbers are fundamentally changing the nature of warfare,” Ahn said, warning North Korea was also advancing unmanned systems, increasing threats to military and civilian facilities in the South.
South Korea’s plan includes expanding counter-drone systems such as laser and high-power microwave weapons, and shifting operations so each service can conduct surveillance and strike missions using drones rather than relying on a centralized command.
A senior defense official said the military would also move quickly to acquire more than 20,000 low-cost, expendable drones and introduce AI-based swarm systems and loitering munitions.
The ministry said it would revamp procurement rules to speed up adoption of civilian technology and position the military as a major buyer to help build a domestic drone ecosystem.
Military growth comes amid senstivity over drone ops.
The expansion comes amid political sensitivity over drone operations under the previous administration. A South Korean court this month sentenced former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison over a military drone incursion into North Korea that prosecutors said was aimed at justifying his 2024 martial law bid.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s government dismantled the drone operations command in the fallout from those allegations, with the plans on Friday aiming to replace it with a new organization focused on policy, capability development and support while leaving operations to individual military units.
South Korea also faces pressures from demographic decline, pushing the military to rely more on automation and unmanned systems to sustain combat capabilities.
