"How to Compensate for Group Infections?" 청원 to Blue House Following News of Reservist Training Enforcement

Reserve Forces Training Reduced to 4 Hours This Year

On the 23rd, a petition opposing the enforcement of this year's reserve forces training was posted on the Blue House National Petition Board. Photo by Blue House National Petition Board.

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] As the Ministry of National Defense has decided to reduce reserve forces training to one day due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), voices expressing anxiety are rising mainly among the training candidates. There are concerns that forcing the training amid the ongoing spread of COVID-19 could increase the risk of mass infection.

On the 23rd, a petition titled "Oppose the forced discriminatory reserve forces training this year!" was posted on the Blue House National Petition Board. As of 7:15 a.m. on the 30th, the petition had gained the support of about 32,400 people.

The petitioner stated, " While reserve forces training was exempted entirely in Daegu and Jeju regions, why are reserve forces trainees living in other areas being discriminated against and forced to undergo 4 hours of training?" and added, "This measure is highly problematic in terms of regional equity."

Earlier, the Ministry of National Defense announced that reserve forces mobilization training would resume from September 1 and be drastically reduced to a 4-hour schedule per day. The number of reserve forces training candidates this year is about 2 million. The military expects about 1.4 million of them to participate in this year's reserve forces training. However, reserve forces training will be exempted in Daegu and the special disaster areas of Cheongdo, Gyeongsan, and Bonghwa in Gyeongbuk, designated earlier this year.

Regarding this, the petitioner opposed, saying, "If the training is forced and reserve forces get infected with COVID-19 in groups, how will the Ministry of National Defense compensate?" and "How can they force such irresponsible and unprepared reserve forces training?"

He further emphasized, "Considering the expected resistance from young reserve forces in their 20s and 30s and the high possibility of secondary COVID-19 infections, please exempt all reserve forces training this year without regional discrimination."

Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Defense plans to reduce the number of trainees on the first day compared to usual and strictly adhere to quarantine measures such as temperature checks upon entry and maintaining distance during training to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Training will only be conducted in regions at social distancing level 1, and training will not be held in regions upgraded to level 2 or higher after September.

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