Its size has fallen below the 500,000 troops experts say are needed to handle a North Korean attack.

SEOUL: South Korea’s military shrank by 20 percent in the past six years to 450,000 troops, largely due to a sharp drop in the population of males of enlistment age for mandatory…

World’s lowest birthrate leaves Seoul 50,000 troops short of maintaining defence readiness, report warns

Shrinking number of males of enlistment age and low birth rates fuel concerns about national defence capabilities, report finds

The country, which has seen a sharp drop in the number of men of enlistment age, is one of the fastest ageing societies and has the lowest fertility rate in the world.

Its size has fallen below the 500,000 troops experts say are needed to handle a North Korean attack.