The South Korean Army’s Eighth Corps ended its eastern coastal defense missions Monday ahead of its official dissolution slated for next month as part of a plan to streamline the structure of the military, officials said Monday.
The unit handed over its key missions to the Third Corps in a key step toward its dissolution set to take place on June 30 under the reform plan aimed at creating a slimmer yet smarter military based on cutting-edge technologies.
Under the plan, the 22nd Infantry Division, the 23rd Security Brigade and other units under the Eighth Corps will be incorporated into the Third Corps, according to the officials.
The military authorities had initially planned to dissolve the Eighth Corps in 2021, but the plan had been postponed in the wake of a set of border breaches, including the 2021 case under which a North Korean man wearing swimming fins swam to the South.
Launched in 1987, the Eighth Corps had a series of key border defense units, including the 22nd Division tasked with monitoring and securing areas along the heavily fortified land border, as well as the eastern coast.
Source: Yonhap News Agency