Korea is experiencing the diminishing trend of military personnel due to the lowering of the birth rate that is closely associated with the low fertility rate and rapid ageing. Against this demographic backdrop, it is expected that the enlistment of the children from multicultural families will increase dramatically in the near future, as the birth rate among international migrant residents, who now exceed 100,000 in number, continues to remain high. These demographic changes due to the sudden intake of North Korean refugees, South and Southeast Asian migrant brides in the countryside, and migrant workers in large numbers are expected to give a cultural shock to mainstream Koreans who are used to the norm of ethnic homogeneity and the strong sense of kinship, blood ties, and regional ties, resulting in immature entry into a new age of multiculturalism, where the main stream cannot easily accept the diversity of skin colors, languages, culture, and religions. Even as Korean society remains unprepared for this rapid cultural diversification, the Korean military must accept military draftees who have a diverse range of skin colors, languages, culture, and religions, making it necessary for us to seriously hammer out ways of accommodating these new changes. Unlike the societies of diverse ethnic groups, the military, which has specific organizational hierarchies that are different from ordinary societies, may suffer from unwarranted reduction in combat capabilities and possibly from the threat of survival, if it is not ready to deal with the diversity issue, because the military has to maintain its peculiar organizational culture and military rules through the resocialization of its personnel, which is considered to be pivotal for the survival of the military as a whole. Instead of assimilating minority draftees into mainstream culture, it is recommended that the Korean military accommodate cultural diversity and inculcate a new culture of respecting and tolerating diversity, so that a new barrack culture of unison and cohesion can encourage high morale, high levels of combat capability, social cohesion, and national development, all of which will make the Korean military a new national education center that leads multiculturalism in Korean society. Therefore, this study suggests how we can prepare for the upcoming multicultural military by investigating the current reality within our military and proposing directions of preparation for the civil society and the military.
Key words : multicultural society, military culture, military role, the popular role