South Korea says to train 500,000 'drone warriors' to counter North Korea

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary. The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Published - June 26, 2026 10:42 pm IST - SEOUL South Korea's short-range surface-to-air missile system Chunma. File | Photo Credit: South Korean Defence Ministry via Reuters 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 Defence Ministry said on Friday (June 26, 2026). Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back said the military planned to produce 110,000 drones by 2029 for deployment across the army, navy, air force and marines, but the ministry later revised this to about 60,000, with around 11,000 to be introduced in 2026. It said the systems would be issued across services, 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,” Mr. Ahn told a briefing, adding they should be used by troops like a “second personal weapon.” Mr. 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 West Asia, 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,” Mr. 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 lasers and high-power microwave weapons, and shifting operations so each service can conduct surveillance and strike missions using drones rather than relying on a centralised command. A senior defence 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 the adoption of civilian technology and position the military as a major buyer to help build a domestic drone ecosystem. The expansion comes amid political sensitivity over drone operations under the previous administration. A South Korean court this month sentenced former 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. Current 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 organisation 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. Copyright© 2026, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

South Korea says to train 500,000 'drone warriors' to counter North Korea

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South Korea says to train 500,000 'drone warriors' to counter North Korea

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