Republic of Korea Army
The army consists of the Army Headquarters, the three army commands, the Aviation Command, and the Special Warfare Command. The army possesses component units including 11 corps, 49 divisions, and 19 brigades, some 560,000 troops, some 2,360 tanks, 5,180 pieces of field artillery, and 2,400 armored vehicles.
The ground forces are organized into three armies and several independent operational and functional commands. Functional commands included the Counterespionage Operations Command, subordinate to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and responsible for interdicting North Korean saboteurs and espionage agents; the Defense Security Command, the army's internal security organization; and the Logistics Base Command, which was established to manage the movement of supplies to the frontlines.
Active-duty infantry units are organized as combined armed forces with armor and artillery forces subordinate to the division or brigade commander. The Third Army and First Army control nineteen infantry divisions and two mechanized infantry divisions. Each corps and division has its own artillery unit to provide its task forces with effective fire support. These artillery units possess various sorts of artillery, targeting equipment, fire-control systems, and high-tech weapons that make them capable of timely and sustained fire support. Technology has linked various firearms, target acquisition equipment and fire control systems in each artillery unit, which will make it possible for each artillery unit to provide continuous, timely fire support. In 1987 each infantry division had about 14,716 soldiers, but in terms of transportation and communications and other equipment was considered "light" by United States standards. Each infantry division had four battalions per regiment, three infantry regiments and one artillery regiment per division, a reconnaissance/ranger battalion and an armor battalion (some only had armor companies), and a reasonable facsimile of combat support and combat service support units in comparison to United States counterparts. The mechanized infantry divisions each had three mechanized/maneuver brigade headquarters, a cavalry battalion, and a mix of nine armor and mechanized infantry battalions.
To conduct offensive maneuver warfare, the ROK military has gained offensive maneuver capability by reorganizing some of its infantry divisions into mechanized units. It has reorganized other infantry divisions as well, and increased unit force capability with new firearms to secure combat capability at the initial stage of a war. To construct a real-time integrated firepower operation system, the structure of the ground force is being reorganized systematically to enhance fire support capability, and artillery units are gradually being transformed to autonomous ones to enhance mobility and shorten operational reaction time. The computerization of fire direction systems and the utilization of long-range striking systems and target acquisition systems have also contributed to the efficiency of fire operation.
In 2000 it was announced that as a part of defense reform, the plan to restructure two field army commands and two corps commands would be carried out based on the future military structure research project results. According to this plan, two field army commands located in the forward area will be replaced with the newly created Ground Operations Command, and two corps commands in the rear area will be replaced with the newly created Rear-Area Operations Command. The FROKA and the TROKA are being merged into Ground Operations Command (GOC), and the SROKA is being renamed as Rear Operations Command (ROC). GOC is responsible of defending the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) from possible Korean People's Army (KPA).
Hogugy
Hogugy symbolizes the "Hoguk Jungshin (patriotism)" and the nation's holy animal, tiger. It also symbolizes the Korean peninsula and the spirit of the "Baekdusan(Mt. Baekdu) Tiger" roaring towards the world. Hogugy's gesture expresses the future-oriented ROK Army and symbolizes the beloved Army from its people.
