Why South Korea wants 500,000 'drone warriors' and 20,000 military drones? WION explains

South Korea announced on Friday (June 26) that its military forces will be trained as drone operators in a significant move to design its warfare strategy. The defence minister Ahn Gyu confirmed that they are planning to train 500,000 authorised military personnel across the army, navy, air force and marines to become “drone warriors”. The initiative is a part of a massive structural overhaul under its "Defence Innovation 4.0" blueprint.

In order to accomplish the plan, South Korea also unveiled on Friday (Jun 26) a plan to acquire 20,000 military drones. Seoul's move comes to fend off threats from North Korea, citing lessons learned from wars in Ukraine and the West Asia war. Their military plans to acquire nearly 11,000 commercial drones for training purposes by the end of 2026, rising to 60,000 by 2029.

Seoul also announced plans to accelerate the development of an indigenous long-range loitering munition dubbed K-Lucas. The drone system is inspired by the American Lucas (low-cost uncrewed combat attack system) drone, which was itself reverse-engineered from Iran’s Shahed-136 kamikaze drone that Russia has widely used in the war against Ukraine.

Why is South Korea focusing on making military forces ‘drone warriors’?

Mass deployment of low-cost drones

South Korea's Defence Minister Ahn Gyu indicated that a small number of high-cost weapon systems dominated the battlefields in the past; however, the mass deployment of low-cost drones is transforming the nature of warfare. In response, South Korea decided to include expanding counter-drone systems, including laser and high-power microwave weapons.

Ahn said the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have demonstrated that drones have become a decisive force on modern battlefields. He added that the widespread deployment of inexpensive drones in large numbers is reshaping the character of warfare. Ahn also cautioned that North Korea continues to advance its military capabilities, posing growing risks to both military installations and civilian infrastructure in South Korea.

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Demographic crisis

In addition, the next catalyst for this move is a severe national demographic crisis as South Korea maintains the lowest fertility rate in the world, prompting the nation to a shrinking pool of conscription-aged citizens. Military strategists project that the country’s active-duty personnel strength will drop significantly over the next decade. Therefore, to maintain a robust deterrence posture against North Korea without a massive human footprint, the South Korean military is substituting boots on the ground with automated systems. By giving training to its force by operating, maintaining, and coordinating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Seoul aims to drastically multiply the combat effectiveness of its smaller, leaner frontline units.

The ministry also said that the Drone Operations Command of South Korea, set up in 2023, will be reorganised into a new Defence Drone Headquarters. The command attracted surveillance following a drone operation over Pyongyang in October 2024 under then-president Yoon Suk Yeol. In response, Yoon has since been sentenced to 30 years jail term for sending drones into North Korea to "manufacture" a crisis ahead of a disastrous martial law bid.