A South Korean researcher claims that as of last year, the actual size of North Korea's military stood at around one- million-50-thousand troops, and that existing estimates, including that of Seoul's Defense Ministry, are somewhat exaggerated. 

Tak Sung-han of the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses released the estimate in an article in the North Korean Economy Review magazine published by the Korea Development Institute on Tuesday.

Tak said the figure indicates Pyongyang has been struggling to secure military manpower in recent days and that the country's economy could suffer a setback if it continues to increase the conscription rate and the ratio of women in the military to overcome the shortfall.

He argued that earlier studies which put the North's military force at over one-point-two million soldiers in the late 1980s or as high as one-point-16 million in 2008 were overestimates.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said the North had one-point-two million troops in 2008 and one-point-28 million since 2016, marking a considerable discrepancy with the latest report by the researcher.