'Army 8th Corps on the East Coast Defense Relieved of Duty Today'

The Army's 8th Corps, which has been defending the entire East Coast, will be disbanded in the second half of this year.

Image source=Yonhap News

According to military officials on the 1st, the 8th Corps will be relieved of its duties as of this day, and various guard duties and operational functions will be transferred to the 3rd Corps. The 8th Corps headquarters will complete the transfer-related tasks by the end of the year, and subordinate units such as the 22nd Division and the 23rd Security Brigade will be absorbed and integrated into the 3rd Corps.

The 8th Corps was established in April 1987 and was nicknamed the Donghae Chungyong Unit. It was originally scheduled to be disbanded by the end of 2021 as part of the 'Defense Reform 2.0' initiated in 2017, but due to a series of security failures in the subordinate 22nd Division, including 'duck feet swimming defection,' 'fence defection,' and 'knock defection,' the disbandment was postponed and has now been implemented this year.

Under Defense Reform 2.0, the military has been reducing its standing forces from 618,000 in 2017 to around 500,000 in 2022, restructuring the army corps from eight to six and divisions from 39 to 33. The personnel gaps are planned to be filled with advanced science and technology.

Accordingly, the 2nd, 20th, 26th, and 30th Divisions have been disbanded so far, and at the end of last year, the 27th Division, known as the 'Igija Unit' in Hwacheon, Gangwon Province, was also disbanded.

Some have raised concerns about whether it is appropriate to carry out the disbandment under the name of 'reform,' considering the unique characteristics of the area under the jurisdiction of the 8th Corps.

The 22nd Division under the 8th Corps is a unit that guards both the rugged mountainous terrain and the long coastline of Gangwon Province, and is the only unit in the entire army responsible for both front-line land surveillance posts (GPs) in the Demilitarized Zone and front-line and coastal defense posts (GOPs). The 22nd Division’s area of responsibility extends to 100 km, including 30 km of front-line land and 70 km of coastline. The command responsibility of the 3rd Corps headquarters, which will absorb the 22nd Division, will inevitably become even heavier.

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