S Korea's army says will cut force by 100,000 in three years

South Korea's Army said on Friday it will cut its force by 100,000 in next three years in face of a shrinking population.

Seoul, a key Washington ally, conscripts able-bodied men for two years of service to defend country from nuclear-armed rth and its much larger army, which inved South in 1950 backed by communist allies China and Soviet Union.

war ended three years later in an armistice, t a peace treaty, leaving South and rth technically at war and peninsula divided along Demilitarized Zone.

Troops will be cut down from current level of 464,000 by 2022, Army said in a report to MPs, according to South's Yonhap news ncy.

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In line with reductions, number of Army corps will be down to six from current eight by 2022 and divisions from 38 to 33 by 2025, Army stated.

South Korea's combined force of 600,000 personnel is alrey much smaller than rth's nearly 1.3 million strong military (which includes 1.1 million in its army), according to Seoul's 2018 defence white paper.

Analysts estimate Pyongyang also has between 20 to 60 nuclear warhes.

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To make up for reduced manpower, Army stressed it would develop "next-generation game changers" such as high-mobility flight vehicles and artificial intelligence systems, according to Yonhap.

downsizing comes as government struggles to boost country's total fertility rate -- number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime -- which dropped to 0.98 in 2018, far short of 2.1 needed to maintain population stability.

Currently 51 million, population is projected to fall to 39 million in 2067, when median will be 62. 

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