one just HAS to ask: where are these 690,000 men & women now?

VOA News - New South Korean Defense Paper Softens Description of North: "The document, released Friday, drops 10-year-old references to North Korea as the 'main enemy' of South Korea, instead describing the Communist state as a 'direct military threat.' The revisions to the White Paper, the first in four years, reflect South Korea's policy of seeking to engage the North peacefully.
At the same time, the document says the United States would commit 690,000 military personnel, supported by about 2,000 war planes should North Korea attack.
The paper says that commitment would require 70 percent of all U.S. Marines, half of the U.S. Air Force, and 40 percent of the U.S. Navy, plus thousands of Army troops, to defend South Korea."