Defense Ministry Promises to Increase Soldiers' Meal Allowance... Will It Become Reality? [Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club]

Members of the National Defense Committee from the People Power Party visited the Army's 51st Division in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, to inspect military meal conditions and quarantine facilities. The photo above is a tip-off image posted on the Facebook community "Delivering Army Training Center News" on the 18th of last month, and the photo below shows the meals provided to the lawmakers on that day.

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] As the issue of poor meals for isolated soldiers and the controversy over the overwork of cooks have surfaced, the military authorities have decided to significantly increase the meal allowance for soldiers. Until now, the military had taken the stance that it was acceptable for the meal allowance to be lower than that of civilians due to bulk purchasing of food supplies, but this position has now changed.

On the 29th, the Ministry of National Defense was reported to be considering raising the meal budget per soldier from the current 8,790 won to 11,000 won, an increase of about 25.1%, starting next year. This is a larger increase than the plan announced by the Ministry on the 7th, which was 10,500 won (a 19.5% increase), and is unprecedented considering that the military meal budget has only increased by 2 to 6% over the past five years.

The Ministry of National Defense’s push to raise the meal allowance comes amid ongoing online controversies. Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party, visited the 202nd Brigade of the 72nd Division in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, and said, "I am very sorry that the meal budget per meal is only 2,930 won, which is less than that for high school students," adding, "It is truly heartbreaking that our sons, who are fulfilling the sacred duty of defending the nation, are not even receiving proper food and clothing in the military."

The meal budget per soldier per meal is about 2,930 won, which is only 80% of the 3,625 won meal budget for high school students, but the military had maintained that the budget was sufficient. The military argued that because bulk purchasing is possible, a budget at 90% of civilian meal costs can provide nutrition comparable to that of civilians.

In particular, the military had taken the position that the standard rice allowance given to soldiers was reduced to allow for more diverse meals. The rice allowance per soldier was 745g in 2004, but now it is difficult to maintain even 570g. In 2010, soldiers’ rice consumption was 415g, about half of the 828g consumed in the 1980s.

The problem is that although the military plans to significantly increase the meal allowance, the key issue is how much cooperation it will receive from the National Assembly and the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Over the past five years, the military meal budget has only increased by about 2 to 6%, so a sudden increase of more than 25% seems practically difficult. This raises concerns that the plan may once again be just "empty talk."

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