ROTC Commissioning Ceremony Held Without External Attendees

[Asia Economy Reporter Yang Nak-gyu] The commissioning ceremonies for Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps ROTC officers at 117 university Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) units nationwide will be held without inviting external guests.

According to the Ministry of National Defense on the 2nd, the ROTC officers commissioned on this day include 3,578 from the Army, 138 from the Navy, 134 from the Air Force, and 121 from the Marine Corps. Among them, 282 are female officers.

To prevent the spread of COVID-19, the military will hold the commissioning ceremonies as internal events within each ROTC unit without inviting outside guests. Families of the newly commissioned second lieutenants will also not be allowed to attend.

In the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions, where COVID-19 cases have recently surged, the ROTC units will not hold commissioning ceremonies; instead, the ROTC commanders will individually present commissioning orders. The Deputy Minister of National Defense will preside over the ceremony at Sungshin Women's University, the Army Deputy Chief of Staff at Wonkwang University, and the Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff at Korea Aerospace University ROTC units.

ROTC candidates are selected as officer candidates during their first and second years at university ROTC units, then complete their major degree education, military science and training, and comprehensive commissioning evaluations during their third and fourth years.

Second Lieutenants Yudo-won (Gyeongnam National University of Science and Technology) and An Ji-yong (Konkuk University) follow in the footsteps of their grandfather, a Korean War veteran. Second Lieutenant Shin Se-hyun (Dongmyung University) is the granddaughter of independence activists Shin Song-sik and Oh Hee-young.

There are also individuals who became officers across generations. Second Lieutenant Ko Geon-wook (Wonkwang University) was influenced by his father, who graduated from the same ROTC unit, his mother who served as an Army sergeant, and his older brother who was commissioned as the 54th ROTC class. With the commissioning of Second Lieutenant Yang Jang-seok (Kunsan National University), a family with three brothers all serving as ROTC officers emerged. Second Lieutenant Kwak Hee-soo (Sangji University) was also commissioned following his older and younger brothers. Second Lieutenants Jeong An-woo (Hansung University), Jeong Gwang-min (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies), Kim Dong-gyun (Daejeon University), and Kim Seung-gyun (Dongyang University) are twin officers commissioned together.

There is even an officer with three military service numbers. Second Lieutenant Kang Dong-hyun (Jeonju University) served as an enlisted soldier in May 2011, then applied to become a professional sergeant. After discharge, he enrolled at Jeonju University in 2016, applied as an ROTC candidate, and was commissioned this year.

Second Lieutenant Seo Young-gwan (Daejin University) obtained U.S. permanent residency and his family planned to immigrate, but he applied to become an ROTC officer to fulfill his national defense duty.

At the commissioning ceremony, Second Lieutenant Lee Su-ji (Sungshin Women's University) from the Army, Second Lieutenant Ha Jong-su (Korea Maritime and Ocean University) from the Navy, and Second Lieutenant Kwon Woo-jin (Korea National University of Transportation) from the Air Force will receive the Presidential Award.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.