South Korea’s army of senior citizens

Why Korean seniors are training for combat
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Johnny Harris is an Emmy-winning independent journalist and contributor to the New York Times. Based in Washington, DC, Harris reports on interesting trends and stories domestically and around the globe, publishing to his audience of over 3.5 million on KZbin. Harris produced and hosted the twice Emmy-nominated series Borders for Vox Media. His visual style blends motion graphics with cinematic videography to create content that explains complex issues in relatable ways.
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[@kcyolne]

Governments across the world take zero steps towards fixing this in increasing affordable housing and reducing costs of things like heating and food. Its never been so expensive to be alive.

[@abdiganiaden]

It’s called the boomer generation, every country has it They inherited a world after chaos from blank slate They own most Assets and had to sweat much less to get them Yet created conditions that made sure they inherited the work of future generations

[@nickgee6854]

I don't live in a country that depends on me to add volume to the population for required national service. It seems you don't either so please stay on point. Population numbers is an interesting point on a global level but unless you have a imement threat due to service numbers available.... stay relevant

[@akun10years10]

​@@nickgee6854lmao offended much

[@4a7e]

Wow

[@wiktorjachyra1869]

Multiple countries have done that….its more of a generational social issue.

[@digits001]

The reason is pretty simple. Agrarian economy = kids are an asset. Developed economy = kids are a liability.

[@bulldog300]

Assets = liabilities + equity

[@srijo8627]

hotels = trivago

[@hdjono3351]

@@bulldog300ah yes it’s always accounting

[@Mariamariafran]

Developed capitalist country = ecocide + pending climate apocalypse

[@dude9318]

Children should never be seen as a liability The problem is very often parents are irresponsible and cant take care of them

[@IamBhova]

"PULL THE TRIGGER!!!" "I CAN'T, MY ARTHRITIS!!!"

[@koko-nt5ye]

😂😂😂

[@honey25873]

Fkd up🤣🤣🤣

[@oraschannel]

😂🤣🤣🤣

[@HOLYOKEFLATS]

cmon man tasteless this is not funny look at it from another perspective a different scope this is extremely i mean extremely sad these old men ready to die in their golden years wtf imagine how this looks as a whole super off the mark like really? the geriatric general man that’s insane wonder how their kids see this smh false sense of hope and pride poor old men hope they live long good lives smh lord willing

[@jonkieller]

😂😂😂

[@kingace6186]

Grandpa: "Fine. I'll do it myself."

[@keterscp1064]

There's a reason why armies push Young ( 18 to 39 ) people to fight , because they are fit enough to do , unlike the old people that will make you lose a war in under 60 min , just look what's happening in Ukraine when their young soldier died and only old people are fighting , they are getting their butt kicked

[@struggler856]

Based Grandpas.

[@user-bm9yt3oj8y]

Brings a new meaning to veteran

[@thecrazy4618]

Now I'm not surprised why Kim Jon un cried during his speech to the women to have more children.

[@Kathy-jq7ue]

I‘m surprised he hasn't force women to have kids in some way

[@antimatter4733]

"Ohhh noo, you're not having enough children, where are we going to get the cannon fodder from!?"

[@AG-yc7vt]

KZbin loves to censor ❤️

[@cr1tikal_arc]

we're talking about south korea here, not north korea. bozo

[@Emma-Maze]

​@@cr1tikal_arcYes, and yet when their countries go to war the vast majority of soldiers are cannon fodder all the same. Always have been, always will be.

[@cr1tikal_arc]

@@Emma-Maze no not really. why do you think north korea has one of the largest militaries? because they aim for soviet style mass combat doctrine. just throw bodies at the other side. western aligned militaries actually tend to focus more on technology, equipment and well trained forces thus resulting in less casualties. you're just throwing around buzzwords like "cannon fodder" to seem like some quirky anti war liberal.

[@josepheridu3322]

Or brain power, or infrastructure, or your retirement.

[@J_X999]

The cost alone of raising a child is enough to put young people off having kids. Housing and education is crazy expensive in South Korea. There are obviously other reasons as to why births are dropping, but if you can barely afford a house, you are NOT having kids.

[@aquilae1670]

Nah, poverty is the best indicacator for high birthrates.

[@J_X999]

@@aquilae1670 That's such a bad argument ngl The cost is undeniably an issue. The people who don't understand how the cost of children has an impact are either too young to have children themselves, or still live with their parents and haven't tried moving out yet.

[@adsfgfghfhdfghkjtyuty4311]

@@aquilae1670That's exactly the point. Have a child and live in poverty. People don't want to live in poverty. Thus, low birth rate

[@Corgi_Manu]

Could the church also be another factor? I've dealt with South korean churches here in my country (India), and I gotta say, I do NOT agree with how they do things. They want people to spend ALLLL their time in church. Like, right after you get outta work, you are encouraged to goto church and spend time there and do church work. They have something or the other happening in church from Tue to Sun, 6 days a week. And their sunday programs last for around 5-6 hours. Literally ALL day. How tf people gonna find time to do the baby making dance if that's the case?

[@SurprisinglyDeep]

Why don't more South Koreans move from Seoul to cheaper areas like Sejong?

[@SquidWaffe]

This wouldnt be a problem in a sane world. States and corporations see us as breeding stock for soldiers and workers as they compete with each other.

[@rings22]

Cyberpunk plot line right here

[@AG-yc7vt]

It’s ok. When the robots take over the soldiers job. They won’t care about the poor people dying off.

[@janhecker1175]

It is a problem in every world because the ratio of people who can work compared to those who have to be sustained by that work gets lower with each generation that has on average less then 2,1 kids per woman

[@dingus6317]

@@AG-yc7vt Once they have robot workers they won't have any reason to keep us around silly

[@annephetxumphou1535]

@@rings22it’s reality sadly

[@Tigerous]

I blame their economy. When greed takes everything from regular people it’s hard to survive or have a baby to support. America is like that too. Our military personnel is kind of shrinking.

[@nitupriyadarshaninayak3014]

But us has d biggest army ri8??

[@localextremist2839]

​@@nitupriyadarshaninayak3014 China does.

[@tpkdm71]

Such a simpleminded point of view.

[@rk-fb5hw]

Dad's army.

[@kimtaeri13]

Scrolled until I found this comment 😂

[@liss2023]

I was looking for this ❤

[@SupaSWDugnut]

Dads army 2.0

[@The_Bobby_Jay]

Bro honestly I have mad respect for these folks. They love their homeland, their relatives, friends, and neighbors so much and understand the global climate well enough to know that they may very well be a deciding factor in a ground war for the Korean peninsula. Like obviously I doubt they will be effective in a combat role but in logistics and planning as well as some light duty delivery and high level engineering jobs I really think they have the drive experience and expertise to make a huge impact with a small contribution of time and experience.

[@kangkittyhaerin]

imagine having athritis while trying to run to cover

[@the1only467]

Maybe if this starts happening in America the government will realize they need to enforce things like higher wages and cheaper living expenses.

[@Michaelmatchett95]

It’s already happening in America people are having more pets in the house than kids

[@the1only467]

@@Michaelmatchett95 I mean when the population reaches the point where we have more elderly than young adults.

[@VoidWalker9917]

They want less people in America and the world. De population is real

[@althechicken9597]

​@@Michaelmatchett95 almost like we can't afford a home, let alone a kid and a home +paying for someone to take care of the kid while we make money to pay for the house and kid. The boomers baby boomed too hard so we couldn't afford to baby boom.

[@HemantKumar-id3jg]

Actually, the total opposite would happen in the long term. (In the short term it may provide subsidies and incentives which FYI is a failed strategy). More taxes and longer working hours. Older people in workforce also means less productivity which means less economic output. Either the country accepts that or relaxes labor laws even more to remain competitive. Also, the only thing keeping demographics stable in USA is immigration, birthrate is already lower than replacement. If you really want to create that environment just stop immigration.

[@worldtraveler930]

No one will Fight Harder than old man who's already lived a full life and has Grandchildren to Protect!!! 🤠👍

[@Tekyng_of_Baregan]

The problem is they might not have grandchildren at all because of the low birth rate:( Of course, the ones with grandchildren might make up much of the group of volunteers

[@AceThaWinner]

No children, nor grandchildren. U missed the whole point

[@505douglasfahrenholz7]

Super simple solution. Draft women, but if they have a baby, then they are exempt from military service.

[@tpkdm71]

Even simpler solution, drones, AI, robotics.

[@ILoveDIEversity]

​@@tpkdm71doesn't fix the birthrate. Jesus christ do you realise how small their birthrate is ?

[@Rhino123yey]

Can you please make a video about the birth rate in the world, and how it is changing, I think it is a hot topic that we need to understand in a better way

[@tpkdm71]

It’s simple. The more advanced the economy the lower the birth rate.

[@kevinsamuelsghost685]

There's not enough Bengay and senior citizen discounts to get me out of retirement 😂

[@edgychico9311]

Even North Korea is decreasing too cuz there's not much food left to feed.

[@PANDITDADDY-kq9uf]

Meanwhile Africa: let me introduce myself 😂

[@jomama3465]

Because Africa is still mostly an agrarian continent or at least depends on blue-collar laborers where more children equals more assets.

[@jurxzy]

Africa will see this same problem soon. As it is currently in its development stage. So will India which is crazy to say. I'd say within the next 70 years.

[@wolfrickthedesigner4748]

Bro that's a dark joke love it 😂😂

[@PANDITDADDY-kq9uf]

@@jurxzy India's birth rate is 2.05 already below replacement level, we r not going to have this problem any time soon

[@Armageddon2077]

What age range would this militia / army age range consist of? You mentioned 63 years old, but what is the youngest and oldest member?

[@dongkwon1242]

Anyone 60 and above.

[@purujitparashar4642]

Lmao kim was also crying

[@yassinmotii1547]

Says radio free Asia

[@purujitparashar4642]

@@yassinmotii1547 lol there's a video out there

[@yassinmotii1547]

@@purujitparashar4642 n if you got the video with actual translation you'd see he was crying while listening to testimony from a woman forced into sex work under occupation. He wasn't crying saying "please have more babies!" Like all the headlines said

[@purujitparashar4642]

@@yassinmotii1547 oh damnnnnnnn. I got propoganded

[@yassinmotii1547]

@@purujitparashar4642 it's ok, no ones immune🙏💜

[@lullamao]

That first sentence😭😭😭

[@annephetxumphou1535]

With Harris I have to wonder if he even realizes how sinister that is

[@Dragon_Heat.]

They should ask BTS for the solution BTS got a whole army dawg💀

[@tinaespino7874]

Love your channel ❤

[@paulcooper1046]

I served in the military from ages 18-22. To serve again in my sixties would be wild. That being said, the prospect of war creates a unique set of circumstances. Health and happiness to South Korea...☀

[@toshitsuneomizu1678]

Having kids is such a luxury nowadays. You think they gonna start having more kids for the purpose of sending them to war?

[@antoniussamuelson3748]

But there is no war in korea since 1953 armistice. Korean soldier spend most of their day patrolling in DMZ without fire any single bullet with north korean troops.

[@Was1Too]

Command, requesting the deployment of x1 “Quagmire” to AO

[@Nick-Lab]

Governments need to incentivize having children. The market forces push us away from having kids and having more than 2 kids is financial sui cide. If we want to be at or above replacement, we need do take action.

[@andystovell]

The problem with the world is that we made it cool to be the person who "doesn't care" about things.

[@jacobbaumgardner3406]

Reminds me of “Dad’s Barmy Army” during WWII.

[@freetibet8140]

I guess SK women will need to start doing compulsory service; EQUALITY !!

[@jopainting1668]

I love this!

[@davidortiz173]

I see the seniors as patriots that love their country and their freedom!

[@michaelcorleone2794]

Well if the governments actually tried to cut down “maintenance” costs of us mortals an average Joe would rather focus on establishing a family rather than cutting corners and making ends meet.

[@DenethordeSade.90]

What are you even talking about?

[@michaelcorleone2794]

@@DenethordeSade.90 youre that slow? If life wasn't that expensive no gov would be worried about having enough men in their reserves

[@rustomkanishka]

Look we could have had a more equitable society where housing or education didn't cost too much But then we'd have to tax the corporate masters and say, hey, you gotta share. That wasn't gonna work.

[@wearingstitches9921]

Well shit...I'm on my way

[@AbsolAhm]

Its sad that South Korea has become such a dystopia where the people cant even have children. Maybe if they focused less on the Chaebols and more on the people by reducinge the stress they endure, they would have a happier society.

[@antoniussamuelson3748]

It's not because of stress they receive from workplace but it because of high cost of living. You know having a child need more money for school, healthcare and food for the child. But the price of living in Korea is already high. Most people in Korea can't buy house and opted to live in apartment. So because of that many of the woman decided to not having children.

[@stxrberiii]

GUESS I GOTTA GO POPULATE 🗣️‼️

[@paulsteaven]

If companies were the one who's controlling your Country, expect to have lesser babies.

[@DigitalicaEG]

“Korea’s finest!” 🫡🫡

[@hvarthtonn6870]

honestly id be terrified fighting against the elderly on their home turf. they know the terrain better than literally anyone. they have years of practice more than you in problem solving and understanding people. theyre patient. and if youve ever seen someone get seriously punched by an old man, you understand that even just working actively for 40+years will train your muscle density far more than hard workouts for less than a decade. they might hurt themselves unleashing it, but they can have serious strength.

[@Doge811]

It doesn't mean anything because north Korea has the same problem........ You would think that a communist totalitarian dictatorship would be different....... Instead it isn't.

[@Aksarallah]

Bruh it's not a forest. The war is mostly gonna be rockets being fired

[@randallcraft4071]

​@@Aksarallahyou sill have to take and hold land, you have to have an occupation force. A war isnt just launching rockets you need a physical presence to subjugate the dominated populace

[@worldtraveler930]

No one will Fight Harder than old man who's already lived a full life and has Grandchildren to Protect!!! 🤠👍

[@Aksarallah]

@@randallcraft4071 sure sure, you can't do shit when they drop nukes on you

[@SelwynClydeAlojipan]

In a digitally networked battlefield, seniors who have had a lifelong experience dealing with different types of people should be able to give real-time commands to younger soldiers and war-robots on the frontlines. Both Japan and South Korea who have aging populations and advanced industries can start fielding fighting teams of young tech-savvy soldiers assisted by war robots. This human+robot army will be backed up by veterans who have executive command and support experience from their previous jobs. The support roles of logistics, communications, intelligence, medical, police, and training can all be handled by properly trained civilian seniors, veteran sergeants, and retired officers. This type of army organization may become the norm for countries with aging demographics and wealthy economies.

[@ShenQue]

They going to be in a similar position as japan

[@ramonemiliochaconperdomo7225]

They are actually way worse

[@marianikolopoulou2986]

We in Hellas, we have the same problem, it is required to go to the army... we have senior volunteer army..the national guard...years now

[@MrRakaukolis]

I would like to understand how can we live without need for armies.

[@ThousandMask]

Without humans 😂

[@darshanpatel2631]

You should make course on geopolitics

[@John_life777]

Cost of living is so super expensive everywhere in the world. Not only in south korea but all over the world people are not get married. It not worth it

[@chrisward7582]

Full time children are a nightmare, the Korean’s are just being rational

[@a.b.2850]

And you were the perfect angel mothers can only dream of having… right?

[@chrisward7582]

@@a.b.2850 - of course not, hence my comment

[@a.b.2850]

@@chrisward7582 hence your celibacy

[@Steve211Ucdhihifvshi]

Thats what happens when your entire country has its head stuck in a mobile phone 24x7.

[@MachoMan_Vert]

Kim: "Now we wait"

[@leelewis5019]

I will help!

[@MARK-si7or]

Can you make a video about the situation in Germany right now with the AfD?

[@lorenzfriedmann2829]

Dann that last pic of em is hard af

[@habesha6883]

They should let the strong and independent women serve

[@gabrielnilsson2448]

Like the Hemvärnet (Home Guard)in Sweden

[@Gondola-ie6cx]

Thats because South Koreans are having babies in other countries (US, Canada,etc.). This is from a first hand account of working for CBP for almost a decade. So many people are coming to the US to have babies on regular visas/ ESTA’s. It’s not illegal to have a baby born in the U.S., unless they become a public charge and use assistance programs.

[@ShinobiDrip999]

This seems to be happening everywhere rn

[@SirStalingrad]

Damn it looks like South Korea is pulling out the Volkssturm

[@danielcurtis1434]

My understanding is this is actually a world problem. So people have more kids basically!!!

[@Naelglrm]

Thanks first person who ive seen saying this, it is not SK problem it is a developed world problem

[@hyronharrison8127]

Its a problem of a smarter overall population. People are choosing NOT to have kids on this shitty planet with shitty living conditions if they cant afford for then to have a happy, healthy life...more power to them

[@dingus6317]

Good partners are getting harder to find and even if you find one it's not cheap

[@diegoaespitia]

ao basically, minutemen

[@KatieBytes]

If they never do have to fight, the training will probably help their health over all. It pays to be active consistently

[@vincentpol]

They make it seem like they would be some kind of fighting force, but most of an army isn't on the frontline. Seniors would be perfectly capable driving a truck for logistical purposes, just to give an example.

[@josha618]

excellent snake, age hasn’t slowed you down one bit

[@shadowlesswarrior]

500 seniors aint gonna make any difference

[@42ckev]

One important thing to know though is that the reason for this is due to HEAVY state policies to reduce birthrates over decades to just 1 child... Then the bias towards boys meant there's something like 109 men for every 100 women... So there simply aren't enough women for the number of men in the country. That combined with the fact that now a lot of Korean women have had enough of a rigid patriarchal society that many are refusing to have relationships means Koreas population decline is steadily growing. It's very much a symptom of culture and gender bias so that needs addressing before the birthrate is likely to change.

[@ericpowell4350]

Many in the comments think addressing symptoms will solve the problem instead of actually solving the problem. 😅

[@tpkdm71]

Humanity is the problem.

[@joshr8666]

Well I guess this conflict is gonna end one way or another

[@artlemagne]

It’s a mix of progressivism, poor social skills, and incredibly expensive rent, food, etc.

[@farright118]

2. Increase nationalism in schools/workplaces 3. Tax people who don't have babies give the money to families 4. No new government contracts for companies who don't have pro family policies And finally if you have to ban abortion

[@ILoveDIEversity]

Based

[@lanxy2398]

that is horrifically bleak no elders or seniors should be in a position of any type of combat at their old age. Women, Children, and the Elderly should be OFF limits when it comes to mandatory military service

[@taehyungsguccishoes6417]

They should also make the women serve, just saying as a woman…

[@changelotdulac]

Robots could be a solution too. Autonomous weapons that do not require to either sleep or drink, that can wait for North Korea to dare cross the DMZ

[@rogerroth7782]

North Korea also has a problem with low birth rate.

[@Jesusandbible]

Dad's Army.

[@getcake8680]

Tbh what I've seen from ukraine is if you're in a trench your mobility barely matters and most don't dare to take a clear look and shoot when enemies are close. So these elderly men might just be equally useful sometimes

[@krishnakaushik6234]

Him:"South koreans are not having babies" Me: Yeah i can give them some😅

[@BraveHornet]

Thats super cute ngl

[@dachosenone207]

Thats scary imagine going to war with a mindset of not returning back coz of your old age. Kamikazee?

[@user-nw3ll1dt3f]

Sorry to bother you Mr Harris but if possible can you please make a video about Eli cohen as well as the complex and delicate Syrian politics in the 1960s . Now I'm only asking for you to do this because I'm curious about the Jewish James Bond 😅

[@spiritgamer2226]

If you Ban Plastic there it's gonna be all okay😂

[@blukatzen]

Great idea......a well formed militia! The SILVER WOLVES!

[@tomdavies9004]

I’d back a well-fed, healthy 50 year old over basically a poorly fed slave, especially when you factor in differences in equipment, logistics etc etc. SK has a smaller army but a lot of force multipliers that NK lacks (plus the support of the US). This doesn’t make demographic collapse less concerning long-term, but talking about a pure numbers mismatch misses a lot in this specific comparison.

[@verydifferentthought]

Actually South Korea is amazing country especially if you live outside of Seoul. I have been there, better than many western countries

[@xHe11houndx]

USA is below the replacement rate 2.1 as well and is also a problem

[@iftekhar77]

Can I get tickets to gangam style for two oh wait wrong booth..

[@pontificationnation]

Who knew that Old Man's War was actually going to happen!

[@richardyoung5293]

grandpa on the front lines lets go

[@chansherly212]

Hmm i dont know, my grandparents were POORER than me, but both pairs had minimum 6 children. My parents and their siblings had maximum 3 children. Then my sister and i currently in our 30s , no children, not even married. So im not sure more money = more children. I live in an emerging economy. At least in my country, it feels like having fewer kids are a wider societal trend as my country modernizes. I honestly have no clue how my grandparents managed to feed EIGHT KIDS (on my dad's side), being farmers /petty traders themselves. Every generation faces their own set of challenges. BUT intuitively i feel that today any little bit of assistance that would help potential parents is a good thing towards the increasing the birth rate.

[@user-fb8jb5yi6g]

In the US, we have senior drill every year during deer hunting season. Marksmanship, field craft, navigation, map reading, tracking, trash talking, beer drinking and setting up ambushes. I'm putting my money on the Americans. 😅 USA USA USA!!

[@lucc2917]

in 50 years the seniors are dead tho :(

[@jonkieller]

Armed Walkers will be the new in military tech.

[@makasii]

they could just ask, we'd love to help

[@CobaltxBoom]

Damn that sucks

[@saskiabamber8733]

Christ, the real life Dad’s Army. 😮

[@Altaranalt]

I love the idea though. Keeps senior citizens healthy and active, give them some comradely. Sure, they won't be as effective as a younger generation, but God have mercy on the man who's going to square off against an army of grump seniors.

[@Grandepau788]

Usa needs about 7 million more deployable soldiers.

[@juviegar3403]

Bruh that's not a solution 😂

[@robbydelplain8950]

Or..... Hear me out. Have babies by bringing back family values and making it cheaper.

[@astrophilip1162]

Actually the army in NK is starving. Their conditions don’t seem like a proper military force. The shocking number that they display to the world are decoration. The ones who can actually fight in a war are not even 1/3 of their forces. What’s scary about them is their equipment and their nukes