[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] Record High Number of Automatic Military Service Exemptions This Year

The Military Manpower Administration has decided to support the costs of medical treatment or exercise for individuals who received a Grade 4 (supplementary service) or Grade 5 (exemption) classification in the conscription physical examination but aim to receive a Grade 3 or higher and enlist in active duty, by partnering with hospitals and other private institutions.

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] More than 15,000 people are expected to be exempted from military service this year alone due to a lack of available positions for social service agents, despite being classified as social service personnel and waiting to enlist.

Those scheduled to enlist in the military receive a grade 4 classification in the physical examination and are assigned as social service agents. Social service agents work at national institutions, local governments, public organizations, and social welfare facilities. However, if no social service position becomes available after waiting for three years, the social service agent summons is exempted, and they are not required to fulfill military service obligations. This is because the number of available workplaces for social service agents is insufficient compared to those classified as social service personnel.

This phenomenon was already predicted in 2015. At that time, the Ministry of National Defense revised the "Rules on Conscription Physical Examination" as the backlog of active-duty personnel intensified. The intention was to reduce the backlog by significantly strengthening the active-duty classification rate. However, the criteria for grade 4 (grades 1 to 3 are active duty) were greatly relaxed, causing a "balloon effect" with a sharp increase in grade 4 classifications. The number of grade 4 classified individuals was only 11 in 2016, but increased to 90 in 2017, 2,317 in 2018, surpassed 10,000 with 11,457 last year, and reached 15,275 this year.

Some critics argue that the military did not adequately plan to utilize social service agents after shortening the exemption period due to long-term waiting to three years. Grade 4 supplementary service personnel live each day anxiously, not knowing when they will be summoned as social service agents, and eventually receive exemption from summons, resulting in the country wasting valuable military resources. Additionally, soldiers who wait several months and then enlist as active-duty personnel have raised complaints about fairness.

In response, the Military Manpower Administration plans to secure additional demand for social service agents and expand the number of industrial technical personnel transfers to resolve the backlog issue at the government-wide level. This year, they plan to utilize 5,839 people from government departments by selecting social service agent waiters and assigning them to the Police Agency for traffic safety (2,000 people), visiting health and welfare services (2,979 people), and education offices (200 people).

The service standards for social service agents will also be strengthened. Previously, if a social service agent was absent without leave for up to seven days, their service period was extended only by the number of days absent. Going forward, they will be penalized with a service extension five times the number of violation days. Doctoral course specialized research personnel who fail to obtain their degree within three years will be prioritized for active-duty military research positions. Additionally, the system allowing master's degree specialized researchers to transfer to large corporations designated for military service after serving 18 months in small and medium-sized enterprises will be abolished to prevent the outflow of personnel from SMEs.

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