The Republic of Korea Reserve Forces (ROKRF; ko, 대한민국 예비군;

Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, ...

: 大韓民國豫備軍, ''Daehanminguk Yebigun''), also known as the ROK Reserve Forces, is the 3,100,000-strong

reserve force A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. There are two major branches of the Reserve Forces: the Mobilization Reserve Forces (

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

: 동원예비군,

: 動員豫備軍; Dongwon Yebigun) and the Homeland Reserve Forces (

: 향토예비군,

hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, ...

: 鄕土豫備軍; Hyangto Yebigun), a

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting w ...

type force. Soldiers who have completed their service in the

Republic of Korea Armed Forces The Republic of Korea Armed Forces (), also known as the ROK Armed Forces, are the armed forces of South Korea. The ROK Armed Forces is one of the largest and most powerful standing armed forces in the world with a reported personnel strength o ...

are automatically transferred to the Reserve Forces and must first serve 4 years in the Mobilization Reserve and then 4 years as an Homeland Reservist. During wartime, about 5 divisions would be formed under the Mobilization Reserves, and deployed to the war zone to provide support and regional stabilization. In the meantime, the Homeland Reserve would defend the homeland from any possible attacks from the enemy.

History

The Homeland Reserve Force was established in April 1968 as part of a nationwide program to increase emergency defense capabilities in response to increased North Korean infiltration. In January 1968, a North Korean commando unit infiltrated

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

and attacked the Blue House Presidential residence in an attempt to assassinate South Korean President

Park Chung Hee Park Chung-hee (, ; 14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the dictator of South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979; ruling as an unelected military strongman from 1961 ...

. That same month, two additional North Korean commando units launched attacks on towns on the Korean east coast in attempts to create an insurgency.

Civil Defense

In 1980 there were over 90,000 civil defense personnel in the country. By 1990 there were more than 3.5 million civil defense personnel in reserve. Their missions included air raid defense,

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

missions, building and road repair.

Equipment

Small Arms

* Daewoo K2 *

M16A1 The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-roun ...

M1 Garand The M1 Garand or M1 rifleOfficially designated as U.S. rifle, caliber .30, M1, later simply called Rifle, Caliber .30, M1, also called US Rifle, Cal. .30, M1 is a semi-automatic rifle that was the service rifle of the U.S Army during World W ...

Vehicles

* M113 * M48A3K

References

External links

* (In Korean)
Globalsecurity on Homeland Reserve Forces

Military of South Korea Reserve forces {{southKorea-mil-stub