Military Personnel Allowed Group Leave Starting Today

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Starting from the 10th, the so-called 'group leave' will be officially implemented to allow soldiers to undergo quarantine in their usual barracks even after returning from leave.

On this day, Boo Seung-chan, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, responded to a regular briefing question asking, "Is there any issue with the readiness posture as company- and platoon-level leave is implemented?" by saying, "From today, leave at the company and platoon levels will be implemented," and added, "Since military readiness is the top priority, leave measures will be carried out without affecting the readiness posture."

The military has increased the proportion of personnel on leave from 20% to up to 35% to allow entire units such as companies and platoons to take leave simultaneously. With this guideline change, assuming a large battalion has about 500 personnel, an entire subordinate company of around 150 soldiers can go on leave at once.

Typically, in Army barracks, one company usually occupies one floor of a barracks building. When a company-level group leave is taken, instead of hastily setting up temporary facilities, the barracks itself can be used as a quarantine facility. From the perspective of quarantined soldiers, this is expected to reduce discomfort compared to being isolated in poor temporary facilities where even water and heating are inadequate.

Measures to address complaints about poor meals for quarantined soldiers will also be implemented immediately.

A representative example is the so-called 'PX assistant system,' where quarantined soldiers can order desired items from the military mart (PX) via mobile messenger, and these items are delivered together with their meal distribution. While regular soldiers can alleviate hunger caused by poor 'jjamppab' (military meals) by buying snacks at the PX, quarantined soldiers had not been able to do even this.

The Ministry of National Defense has promised a 'fundamental solution,' including raising the meal allowance by 19.5% to 10,500 won starting next year and creating an anonymous 'military whistleblowing app.' While it is fortunate that the military has belatedly begun to listen to soldiers' voices, there are also critical voices warning that these measures should not be mere showmanship.

There is concern that being overly focused on silencing the flood of 'SNS reports' could instead increase confusion on the ground and the burden of quarantine measures.

Opinions have also been raised that the plan to send more soldiers on leave simultaneously is inappropriate considering the recent increase in confirmed cases both in local communities and within the military.

In fact, the cumulative number of confirmed cases in the military was 558 as of February 15, when the Ministry of National Defense resumed soldiers' leave, but rose to 829 as of the 8th of this month, an increase of 271 in about three months. This accounts for about 33% of the total military confirmed cases (829) recorded since February last year. In this situation, an increase in the number of soldiers on leave could increase the quarantine burden on each military unit.

There is also a considerable view that for the promised improvements to be realized early, a change in awareness and meticulous attention from field commanders is essential.

Even on this day, additional protest reports about poor meals provided to quarantined soldiers in the Army’s 39th Division were posted on the Facebook community 'Delivering News from the Army Training Center,' indicating that dissatisfaction remains despite the Army’s promises to improve.

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