​​South Korea will cut the number of troops stationed at general outposts (GOPs) along the heavily militarized border with North Korea by almost three-quarters, replacing the soldiers with artificial intelligence-based systems, Seoul’s defense minister said Tuesday.

The move aligns with the ROK military’s push to reduce the number of front-line personnel by 2040 due to growing manpower shortages.

“There are currently 22,000 troops assigned to GOP guard duties, but by building an AI-based scientific surveillance system, we will reduce that to about 6,000 personnel on the GOP line,” minister Ahn Gyu-back said during a press conference.

The defense minister said