Marine Corps Recruitment Spikes as North Korea’s Provocations Intensify

The rate of applications to join the Marine Corps has skyrocketed this year.

According to the Military Manpower Administration’s military service portal on the 24th, the application rate for the general technical/professional technical soldier recruitment of the Marine Corps from the 28th of last month to the 4th was 2.2 to 1. A total of 2,473 people applied for 1,118 positions.

The same field of Marine Corps recruitment for enlistment in March also saw a competition rate of 2.1 to 1, with 2,362 people applying for 1,118 positions. The competition rate for February enlistees was 1.8 to 1 and for January enlistees, it was 1 to 1.

This competition rate shows a significant increase compared to last year. Last year, the competition rate recorded 1.1 to 1 in January and continued to be less than 1 to 1 until December. In fact, after a Marine was killed while helping civilians in July, the competition rate even plummeted from 0.2 to 1.

The competition rate for Marine Corps enlistment is typically related to the security situation of the Korean Peninsula. As North Korea’s provocations intensify, the number of patriotic young people increases.

After North Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island shelling provocation in November of 2010, the competition rates were 2.95 to 1 in November, 3.57 to 1 in December, and 4.5 to 1 in January of the following year, marking the highest competition rates ever.

The high competition rate for the Marine Corps is expected to continue for a while. This is because North Korea’s nuclear threat on the Korean Peninsula is not stopping. Also, it is expected that many of those who have been eliminated due to the recent high competition rate will apply for the Marine Corps again.

The fact that the Marine Corps is the first unit to respond directly to North Korea’s provocations is also attracting the attention of young people. The Marine Corps unit stationed in the northernmost part of the West Sea responded with over 400 rounds of counter-fire using K-9 self-propelled guns and tank guns when the North Korean military provoked by firing near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea on the 5th.

By. Geun Soo Lee

The Republic of Korea Marine Corps is an organization of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces mainly carrying out amphibious operations, and its leader is the Marine Corps Commander.

The Marine Corps was established on April 15, 1949, with a force of 380 soldiers selected from the Navy, and participated in the Korean War with the size of two battalions to one regiment. It has since grown steadily and is now a corps-level unit with two divisions and two independent brigades.