Army with Poor Meals, Excessive Budget for Officer Quarters Construction

On the 18th of last month, substandard meals from the 51st Division were revealed through the Facebook community 'Delivering Army Training Center News' (photo above), and on the 26th, opposition party lawmakers visited the unit and disclosed a meal tray "filled with Samgyeopsal." (Photo by Yukdaejeon Facebook screenshot)

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The military, already struggling with controversies over substandard meals, is now facing criticism for overestimating the budget for the construction of officers' quarters and accommodations.

According to the audit results of the "Military Facility Project Promotion and Management Status" released by the Board of Audit and Inspection on the 28th, the Ministry of National Defense allocated the budget after reflecting the demand for military officers' quarters surveyed by the Army Headquarters in the 2021-2025 Defense Mid-term Plan. However, upon reanalyzing the data, the audit revealed that the demand for quarters used by captains and sergeants was overestimated by 2,409 units, and the demand for officers' accommodations used by first lieutenants and second lieutenants was overestimated by 2,737 units. If the budget had been allocated based on the original data, more than 740 billion KRW would have been wasted, including about 470 billion KRW for quarters and about 270 billion KRW for accommodations.

There have been continuous criticisms that while large sums are spent on building officers' quarters, investment in soldiers' meal expenses is neglected. Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, after visiting the Army 72nd Division in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province the day before, said at the party-government-office meeting held at the National Assembly on the same day, "The meal cost for soldiers is 2,930 KRW per meal, totaling 8,790 KRW for three meals, whereas a high school meal costs 3,625 KRW per meal," adding, "We must properly support the meals for our sons and daughters who are performing their sacred duties."

Online, criticism continues over the meals provided when lawmakers visit military units. When opposition party lawmakers visited the Army 51st Division, the military provided a so-called "pork belly-packed" meal, and photos of this have been actively shared online.

A Ministry of National Defense official stated, "We are reviewing plans to newly hire about 900 civilian cooks as early as the second half of the year," adding, "We are also considering budget reallocation methods such as utilizing unused budgets."

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