[Yang Nak-gyu's Defense Club] Will the Ministry of National Defense, which plans to increase recruitment, also increase 'Reserve Forces Recruitment'?

The 2019 Public Service Job Fair held on the 26th at the AT Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, is bustling with students and military personnel preparing for discharge, among other job seekers. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu Reporter] The Ministry of National Defense has begun the recruitment process to select military civilian employees this year, but concerns are rising that the proportion of reserve personnel hired will only increase. This implies that civilianization through defense reform is ultimately being used as a means to increase the hiring of reserve personnel.

The Ministry of National Defense announced through the '2020 Military Civilian Employee Recruitment Examination Implementation Plan' that recruitment exams will be conducted for military civilian employees of rank 5 or higher in the Army, Navy, and Air Force, as well as for all ranks in units and agencies directly under the Ministry of National Defense. Each branch will conduct recruitment exams for military civilian employees of rank 6 or lower.

This year, 4,139 people are expected to be selected, including 3,210 through open competitive recruitment and 929 through career competitive recruitment. This is about 180 more than last year. The Ministry explained that this reflects the results of replacing non-combat military positions with civilian personnel (military civilian employee recruitment) and reinforcing personnel on the ground, in line with the promotion of Defense Reform 2.0.

However, it was recently confirmed that two military civilian employees who were caught posting cyber comments at the Army Cyber Command (now the Army Cyber Operations Command) were rehired after retirement. They were found to have posted political-related content online 15 times and commented on political posts or retweeted others' posts from September 2012 to August 2013. The Ministry of National Defense stated, "Prosecutorial suspension or warnings are not disqualifications for public servant recruitment, so there is no legal problem."

The Ministry's method of hiring reserve personnel was already announced under the current government. Former Minister of National Defense Song Young-moo sent an email to all military officers in August 2018, stating, "Positions converted to civilian personnel will be given priority as reemployment opportunities to soldiers who retire after long-term service."

Former Minister Song's email was interpreted as an attempt to quell dissatisfaction regarding adjustments to the number of colonels within the military. It was a response to criticisms and concerns such as "Seniors have enjoyed all the benefits, and now they are implementing defense reform that harms juniors," and "Colonels and generals are not concerned or opposed because it does not apply to them."

In the email, former Minister Song said, "Adjusting the number of colonels is an unavoidable matter," and "Positions in education, logistics, personnel, and administration at the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, which are being converted to civilian personnel, will be given priority as reemployment opportunities to military personnel."

Some in the military point out that if former Minister Song rehires retired colonels as military civilian employees, they will inevitably be employed in order of rank. There are also criticisms that this is not reform but a "revolving military personnel system." In particular, there are claims that abolishing the written exam system for career recruitment of military civilian employees is a special favor to reserve personnel.

At the end of last December, the Ministry of National Defense announced a legislative notice for the 'Amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Military Civilian Employee Personnel Act,' which abolishes the written exam stage for career recruitment of military civilian employees. The amendment aims to reduce the burden of preparing for written exams for candidates applying for career competitive recruitment by exempting them from all written exams, similar to the public servant appointment exam.

However, this policy has been criticized as effectively favoring military veterans, considering that the Ministry took into account that reserve personnel do not have enough time to prepare for exams. Two years ago, the Ministry also attempted to abolish the written exam but eventually withdrew the plan due to strong opposition from non-military candidates preparing for the exam.

A military official said, "To truly promote defense reform, civilianization must be properly implemented by actively recruiting external experts rather than relying on internal military experts."

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