Working at Small and Medium Enterprises Instead of Military Enlistment for 1,200 People Next Year

An industrial technical personnel working at Seojin Precision located in Gimhae-si, Gyeongnam

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter]Next year, 16,500 people serving their military duty as specialized research personnel, industrial technical personnel, and maritime service reservists working at companies, research institutes, and ships will be assigned to over 10,600 military-designated workplaces.

According to the Military Manpower Administration on the 29th, 2,500 specialized research personnel will be assigned to corporate-affiliated research institutes and research organizations to contribute to national industrial development through nurturing and supporting research manpower.

1,200 personnel were assigned to research institutes affiliated with small and medium-sized enterprises and mid-sized companies, and 300 personnel will be deployed to other government-funded research institutes, national and public research institutes, university-affiliated research organizations, defense industry research institutes, and scientific promotion research institutes. Among 4,000 industrial technical personnel judged fit for active duty, 3,468 were assigned to fixed-term projects, mainly graduates from specialized high schools and Meister high schools.

The Military Manpower Administration explained, "We have ensured that they can grow into technical masters in their respective fields and play a pivotal role in national industrial development," adding, "Assignments have been expanded to include general high school vocational departments and technical alternative schools operated for the purpose of nurturing talent in industrial fields, similar to specialized high schools."

To support the military service and economic independence of economically vulnerable groups such as basic livelihood security recipients, lower-income classes, and single-parent family support recipients, 101 personnel were separately assigned. Additionally, 88 personnel were assigned to the defense industry sector, and considering the labor shortage in rural fishing villages, 343 personnel with agricultural majors will be deployed in agriculture and fisheries fields. Nine thousand personnel judged as supplementary service will be deployed to alleviate manpower shortages in small and medium-sized enterprises. Maritime service reservists were assigned 1,000 personnel to shipping and fisheries companies.

The number of personnel assigned to each military-designated workplace can be checked on the Military Manpower Administration website (www.mma.go.kr) and the industrial support manpower employment information site, "Industrial Support Military Workplace" (work.mma.go.kr).

Specialized research personnel and industrial technical personnel serve as alternative service systems to ensure stable support of production and research manpower. Maritime service reservists replace military duty by serving onboard shipping and fisheries companies for a certain period to transport military supplies in emergencies.

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