South Korea's New Defense Strategy: Half a Million Soldiers to Become 'Drone Warriors'

South Korea is preparing to implement a new defense strategy, taking into account the increasing impact of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technologies on the battlefield. The country plans to rapidly deploy the 'K-Lucas' long-range kamikaze UAV system. South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back stated that the system is a 'Korean-style long-range cruise missile' that plays a strategic role in modern warfare.South Korea is also implementing a comprehensive transformation plan to enable all soldiers to use UAVs. Under this plan, approximately 500,000 soldiers from the army, air force, and navy are expected to be trained as UAV operators. Minister Ahn emphasized that the use of low-cost and mass-produced UAVs has become a 'game-changer', making it essential for every soldier to be able to operate them.The plan aims to acquire around 11,000 commercial UAVs for training purposes by the end of the year and add more than 20,000 low-cost attack UAVs to the inventory by 2030.