Ha Tae-kyung, "Co-ed Military Service Pledge Exempts Pregnant and Childbearing Women"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Ha Tae-kyung, a presidential candidate from the People Power Party, announced on the 18th that regarding his pledged 'Coed Military Service System,' "Women who are pregnant or have given birth will be exempted from military service and reserve forces training."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the same day, Ha posted the 'Second Q&A on the Coed Military Service System' on Facebook, stating, "We will refer to Israel's case, where women who have given birth or are pregnant are exempted from military service obligations."

Ha emphasized the necessity of the coed military service system by citing examples such as Sweden, which has adopted the system, saying, "Military powers are improving their systems to eliminate gender discrimination in the military."

He added, "Claims that frame improvements to the military service system due to rapid population decline as gender conflict are rather shallow and regressive."

He also said, "Mandatory service due to conscription should be shortened from the current 18 months based on the Army standard." He explained, "If we adopt the 'Coed Military Service System' and the 'Mixed Conscription and Volunteer System' that I pledged, even if the conscription service period is reduced to one year, the manpower shortage problem can be solved by having volunteer service last more than three years."

Regarding a question about the Blue House's negative stance on the 'Coed Military Service System,' citing that improving service conditions and gender-equal organizational culture should come first, Ha said, "The strong male culture in the military is because men overwhelmingly dominate the current military. The current proportion of female soldiers in our military is less than 2%," adding, "The argument that improving gender-equal organizational culture should come first without changing this reality is sophistry."

He continued, "The Blue House should heed the words of Democratic Party lawmaker Kwon In-sook, who said that increasing the number of female soldiers can spread a gender-equal culture," and explained, "Improving service conditions and gender-equal organizational culture are issues that should be addressed together while promoting the 'Coed Military Service System,' not prerequisites."

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