The Ministry of National Defense's Poor Meal Measures... The Core Is Missing

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The Ministry of National Defense has decided to raise soldiers' daily meal allowance to 10,000 won starting in July and to promote private outsourcing to address the issue of poor-quality meals. However, this has been criticized as a separate measure from the problem of substandard meals. The issue of poor-quality meals mainly concerns soldiers isolated due to COVID-19, and it is argued that this is a matter commanders should pay attention to rather than simply increasing meal allowances.

On the 3rd, the Ministry of National Defense held the first meeting of the "Task Force for Improving Soldiers' Living Conditions (TF)" led by Vice Minister Park Jae-min to discuss these matters. This task force was triggered by reports of poor-quality meals for isolated soldiers. At this meeting, the TF decided to raise soldiers' daily meal allowance to 10,000 won starting in July. Additionally, private outsourcing will be considered for pilot application at training institutions such as the Army Training Center.

However, a military official stated, "Currently, soldiers do not complain about the self-service meal system," adding, "The problem lies with poor-quality meals for isolated soldiers, which is an issue commanders need to address."

Another military official said, "It is unfortunate that it appears as if all units are serving poor-quality meals, and despite orders from the military leadership, some commanders are not properly implementing the measures."

A government official commented, "No commander has received warnings or disciplinary actions due to poor-quality meals," and added, "It seems like the situation is being managed by setting measures without issuing any disciplinary actions."

Within the military, as reports of poor-quality meals for isolated soldiers continued, there were complaints that "Minister of National Defense Seo Wook's orders are not being effective."

Since the poor-quality meal situation in a brigade under the 51st Division was first exposed on April 18, Minister Seo Wook has repeatedly urged his subordinates to treat soldiers like their own children or siblings. He also appeared before the National Assembly's Defense Committee on April 28 to issue a public apology.

However, reports continued. On the "Delivered Instead of the Army Training Center (Yukdaejeon)" platform, a complaint was posted stating, "The meal on the 10th did not include side dishes or soup matching the menu, and lunch consisted only of 20 cereal pieces."

Some have expressed concerns about the plan to shift from providing soldiers with meals in kind to providing cash. The idea is to give soldiers cash or coupons, allowing them the autonomy to choose their meals, whether by eating on base, ordering delivery, or purchasing from the PX.

However, soldiers' rice consumption is expected to decrease further. The rice allocation standard for soldiers was 745g in 2004, but now even maintaining 570g is difficult. In 2010, soldiers' rice consumption was 415g, about half of the 828g consumed in the 1980s.

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