The down sizing of the Korean military continues:

The government plans to replace soldiers with maritime police officers to guard coastal areas and, in the process, reduce the number of personnel by 60 percent by 2014, a source who is familiar with the plan told The Korea Times Tuesday.

The source, who is involved in the replacement plan, expressed his concern that it may leave coastal areas vulnerable to contingencies such as infiltration by commandos, drug traffickers and illegal immigrants.

At present, around 11,150 Army personnel, mostly conscripts, are engaged in coast guard duty, but they will be replaced by around 4,500 career maritime police officers, he said.

However, the Army will still be responsible for the coastal areas near the border with North Korea, from the Northern Limit Line (NLL) to Incheon in the West Sea and to Goseong in Gangwon Province in the East Sea, the source added.

“The plan is being pushed ahead after approval from Cheong Wa Dae,” he said. He did not rule out the possibility that the reduction in the number may compromise coastal security.

“The plan is to help the Army concentrate on war-deterrent operations by holding maritime police liable for coastal guard duty,” he said.  [Korea Times]

I really don’t think this is going to make much of difference considering that the North Koreans have been able to penetrate the coastal defenses rather easily before just due to the length and rugged terrain of the peninsula.  I think the biggest question is if there are enough military personnel available to respond after an infiltration is detected such as in 1996?