SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Yonhap) – The defense ministry said Tuesday it is not considering conscripting women for the country’s mandatory military service after the issue received renewed attention in a campaign pledge ahead of the April general elections.

On Monday, the leader of the newly created Reformative Conservative Party, Lee Jun-seok, proposed having women serve in the military first if they want to apply for jobs as police officers or firefighter as a campaign pledge.

When asked about the possibility of female conscription, the ministry’s spokesperson Jeon Ha-kyou denied considering it.

  • Half-Life 3@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    In South Korea, all able-bodied men must serve mandatory military service for at least 18 months, while women can volunteer for military duty as officers or noncommissioned officers.

    I wonder why the Korean government doesn’t draft women. According to the article, women can serve in the military as non-commissioned officers or officers, but don’t non-commissioned officers and officers need more physical abilities and skills than regular soldiers?

    • HikingVet@lemmy.ca
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      9 months ago

      No. Officers and NCOs are more managers.

      The higher rank you have the more paperwork you do. Especially if you aren’t in a front line trade.

  • Railison@aussie.zone
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    9 months ago

    Presumably they women will need to stay back and improve the country’s anaemic birth rate

  • CosmoNova@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    And I am sure the south korean public will have a calm and thoughtful discussion about it.