The Ministry of National Defense in South Korea will gradually eliminate at least 30 general-level posts by the end of 2015, a defense official at the ministry said on May 17, in line with the defense reform plan to streamline the armed forces.
"The ministry is planning to make a 15 percent cut in the number of general-grade officers by 2020 to make the top command structure the military slimmer but more efficient," said the official. "Some 30 general-grade officers, including a four-star position in the Army, will be scrapped by the end of 2015 when reforming the top command structure is completed. Another 30 general-grade officers will be reduced by 2020 when the ministry completes the changes in the organizational structure of the military units."
The moves come after the North Korea's two deadly attacks on South Korea last year.
The official also said the Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin ordered his staff to review which top positions should be eligible for the reductions, and the review will be completed by the end of next month.
Reforming the top command structure will take place in stages until December 2015, when South Korea is scheduled to retake wartime operational control over its troops from the United States, the official said.
Another key part of the reform measures is to enhance the interoperability among the Army, Navy and Air Forces as the North's two attacks showed the weakness of the South's Army-dominated military.
In a bid to address the shortcomings, the ministry is pushing to allow the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who wields operational control over all military personnel, to have the additional authority of managing the personnel.
In the meantime, the name of previous Military Logistics Command will be changed to the Defense Logistics Command which is planned to be newly-established aimed at constructing joint logistics support system and enhance the efficiency of logistics operation.
Benchmarking the U.S.'s Defense Logistics Agency, the Defense Ministry will maintain each logistics command in the Army, Navy and Air Force but integrate war supplies, non-weapon and transportation systems. In order to do so, the ministry is planning to gather opinions from experts and the military as well as study examples in advanced countries until the end of October this year.
RoK MoD
