Hong Joon-pyo vs Yoo Seung-min Clash Over 'Volunteer Military System': "Let's Lift the Burden of Conscription" vs "We Need to Reform the Military"

Hong Jun-pyo Advocates for Conscription and Volunteer Military System Introduction
Yoo Seung-min Raises Concerns on Troop Recruitment and Fairness in Transition to Volunteer System
"Let's Build a Strong Military" vs "We Need to Change the Military"

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The Netflix drama D.P. has deepened the political debate over the conscription system. Within the People Power Party, while Representative Hong Joon-pyo has hinted at the possibility of transitioning to an all-volunteer military system, former Representative Yoo Seung-min has proposed pledges focusing on reforming the system, arguing that if an all-volunteer system is introduced, only children from poor families would end up serving in the military.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 6th, Representative Hong stated on social media (SNS), "I watched the Netflix drama D.P.," and explained, "I pledged to consider transitioning to an all-volunteer and volunteer soldier system to build a strong military where one person is worth a hundred. I made such a pledge because I believe it is time to free young people from the burden of conscription."

After Representative Hong shared his thoughts upon watching D.P., former Representative Yoo responded seriously. Yoo said, "I also watched D.P. and thought our military must quickly escape from absurdities and violence," but pointed out, "Changing from conscription to an all-volunteer system is a completely separate issue." He added, "Even if we adopt an all-volunteer system, we cannot leave the military's absurdities and violence as they are," and insisted, "The military must be reformed." Yoo criticized, "If we keep the military as it is and switch to an all-volunteer system, does that mean it doesn't matter what happens to those who end up serving?"

The concerns of the two presidential candidates regarding the military did not start merely from a single drama.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, Representative Hong, through a presidential campaign pledge released on SNS last month, stated, "To cultivate a strong military where one person is worth a hundred, we should actively consider implementing an all-volunteer system and also think about introducing a defense tax to support it." He argued, "If a professional soldier system is introduced across the entire military, it will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, and if both men and women are obligated to pay the defense tax for a certain period, disputes over gender inequality will disappear." Furthermore, he advocated, "While reducing the number of troops in each branch, we should specialize them, abolish conscription, implement a volunteer soldier system, and provide incentives such as additional points for social advancement to those who serve as volunteer soldiers for a certain period."

On the other hand, former Representative Yoo emphasized strengthening support for discharged soldiers and improving the treatment of active-duty soldiers, including solving meal-related issues. Regarding military meals, Yoo said, "We will reassign meal-related personnel to combat troops and open non-frontline units such as front-line GPs, GOPs, islands, and mountainous remote areas to the private sector for outsourcing to ensure soldiers' meals are properly handled." He added, "By outsourcing to the private sector, with a budget of 5,000 to 7,000 won per meal, much better meals can be provided." Yoo also announced pledges to strengthen support for discharged soldiers who have fulfilled their military duties in areas such as housing, education and vocational training, pensions, and career recognition.

In fact, former Representative Yoo is not completely opposed to the all-volunteer system. However, he explained, "There are still more reasons why our country cannot adopt an all-volunteer system yet." In an interview with Asia Economy, he said, "Currently, with the standoff between South and North Korea, if we switch to an all-volunteer system, we would have to pay high salaries, but if young people resist going to the military, how can we secure military manpower?" He pointed out, "The all-volunteer system is premature." Additionally, he noted that if the all-volunteer system is adopted, children from high-income and highly educated families might avoid military service, leaving only children from low-income and less-educated families to serve, which would be neither fair nor just.

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