SEOUL, April 28 (AJP) - Robots will take over general outposts (GOPs) along the heavily fortified border with North Korea as South Korea grapples with shrinking troop numbers due to depopulation. But maintaining a robotic fleet comes with a catch — massive computing power.
The Ministry of National Defense said Tuesday it is reviewing a plan to gradually reduce troops stationed at front-line GOPs and transition to an AI-enabled surveillance system.
“The ministry is reviewing a plan to transform GOPs into an AI-based border security system combining manned and unmanned operations, and to pursue related force restructuring,” a ministry spokesperson said.
Troop levels at GOPs could be reduced from about 22,000 to around 6,000. The ministry emphasized that the move is not simply about cutting troop numbers, but part of a broader restructuring driven by long-term demographic pressures.
“GOP guard forces would be shifted to the Forward Edge of the Battle Area (FEBA), allowing troops to focus on training and preparing for combat while maintaining rapid response capabilities in emergencies,” the spokesperson said.
The military is refining a roadmap for phased mid- to long-term pilot programs and complementary measures to ensure readiness during the transition.
The plan, however, faces a significant infrastructure shortfall.
The military estimates it will need about 50,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) to implement AI systems, but currently operates only around 500 across major defense data facilities, including the Defense Integrated Data Center, battlefield data centers and the Agency for Defense Development.
The challenge extends beyond equipment shortages.
Even if additional GPUs are secured, constraints in power supply, cooling systems and rack space could limit further expansion.
The Agency for Defense Development, which holds roughly 480 GPUs, had planned to add another 320 last year but scrapped the plan due to insufficient installation space.
Outsourcing GPU management to commercial cloud providers such as Naver Cloud and Kakao is not an option under National Intelligence Service security guidelines, which restrict such use in defense.
Without new data centers, additional GPUs would be difficult to deploy, risking delays to broader military AI adoption.
Given national security requirements, any new military data center would likely need to be built underground and hardened against chemical, biological and electromagnetic pulse (EMP) threats, with costs expected to exceed 2 trillion won ($1.4 billion).
There are growing calls to build a facility capable of housing large volumes of GPUs, similar to one planned by the Ministry of Science and ICT.
The ministry aims to invest 2 trillion won by 2028 to establish a National AI Computing Center with 50,000 GPUs.
Separately, the ministry signed a memorandum of understanding Monday with Demis Hassabis, co-founder and chief executive of Google DeepMind, to cooperate on joint research in science, technology and AI, as well as talent development and the responsible use of AI.
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