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South Korea Reserve and Civil Defense Forces
The reserve forces included mobilization reserve forces for
each of the armed services and the Homeland Reserve Force, a
paramilitary organization responsible for community and regional
defense. Between 1968 and 1988, males between the ages of
eighteen and forty were eligible for defense call-up duty; there
was no clear policy on the age at which a recruit was eligible
for retirement. In January 1988, a new policy was instituted that
reduced the age-group of the male population subject to service
in the reserves: only males who had been drafted for service
between the ages of nineteen and thirty-four were required to
serve in the reserves. The period of service was limited to
between six and eight years, depending on the individual's age at
conscription.
The mission of the mobilization reserves was to provide each
of the services with well-trained personnel prepared to enter
combat as soon as possible in wartime. In 1990 there were
1,240,000 men in the reserves: 1,100,000 in the army; 60,000
in the marines; 55,000 in the air force; and 25,000 in the navy.
Most recruits had served on active duty in their respective
services and were assigned to a reserve unit upon completion of
their term of enlistment. Units in the reserves probably closely
resembled active-duty organizations. Mobilization reserve
personnel attended regularly scheduled training about one day a
month and also participated in an annual field exercise that
lasted about one week. Active-duty officers and NCOs were
assigned to command and staff positions in the reserves at
battalion and higher levels.
The Homeland Reserve Force was established in April 1968 as
part of a nationwide program to increase defense preparedness in
the wake of North Korean provocations. In January 1968, a North
Korean commando unit infiltrated Seoul and attacked the Blue
House in an attempt to assassinate President Park Chung Hee. That
same month, two additional North Korean commando units launched
attacks on towns on the east coast in attempts to encourage the
South Korean populace to overthrow the government. Homeland
Reserve Force personnel were given basic training in physical
fitness, weapons familiarization, and defense tactics against
various types of attacks by enemy forces. In wartime these units
would remain close to or in their own cities, villages, or towns,
where they would guard roads, power plants, factories, and other
potential military targets.
In 1975 the National Assembly passed the Civil Defense Law,
which was promulgated to establish organizations in every
community to protect lives and property during wartime and
natural disasters. Males between the ages of nineteen and fifty
who were not drafted for service in the military were recruited
for service in civil defense units. In 1980 there were over
90,000 civil defense personnel in the country. By 1990 their
numbers were more than 3.5 million. Their missions included air
raid defense, search and rescue, and building and road repair.
Data as of June 1990
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