 |
| RoK army Cpl Sang Woo Kang (Image: Wiki Commons) |
South Korea's defence ministry said Tuesday it was pushing to scrap nearly all existing exemptions to mandatory military service, citing a shortfall in the number of conscripts.
Some 28,000 able-bodied men are exempted every year, either because of the nature of their academic studies, or because they opt to serve their time in the police force or fire service instead.
"Considering the country's population forecast, we are expecting a shortfall in military personnel of around 20,000 to 30,000 by 2023," a ministry official said.
The plan, which is still being negotiated with other concerned ministries, would see the exemptions phased out over three years, beginning in 2020.
More than 60 years after the end of the Korean War, every South Korean man between the age of 18 and 35 is required to perform two years military service.
The main rationale is the continued threat from nuclear-armed North Korea, given that the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a ceasefire rather than a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas technically at war.
Read the full story at SpaceDaily