By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter

The South Korean military should prepare to adjust to a multi-cultural military environment, as the number of mixed-race families has increased, a professor said Tuesday.

``The number of mixed-race people in the military will increase to an extent in the coming years,'' Professor Kim Kwang-eok of Seoul National University said in a seminar hosted by the Army. ``After all, the South Korean military will be transformed into a multi-cultural one.''

Kim referred to the rise in interracial marriages. Currently, about 25 percent of marriages in provinces are multicultural with the ratio of foreign immigrants accounting for about 2 percent of the population, he noted.

``With the rise in mixed-race soldiers, the military would become a society where a variety of cultures co-exist, so many different problems might arise,'' the professor said.

He said the military should come up with measures to deal with potential problems with the envisaged multicultural camp culture. The professor suggested that the military establish special training programs on language, culture and others for the mixed-race conscripts.

All South Korean able-bodied men over 19 are required to serve in the military for 24-27 months. Women can serve in the military as officers but are not obligated to under the conscription system.

Asian mixed-race men, dubbed ``Kosians,'' are now subject to the conscription system under a law revised in 2005, while ``Amerasians'' or ``Eurasians'' from a partnership between Koreans and Westerners, are exempted from the mandatory service because of their ``distinct skin colors,'' according to the Ministry of Manpower Administration (MMA).

Those who have distinct skin colors, such as black or white, are exempted because they might have difficulty mixing with Korean colleagues at barracks, an MMA spokesman. But if an Amerasian or Eurasian wants to serve, the ministry can review his joining the military, he said.

As of last year, there were 148,000 mixed-race families in South Korea, according to government data. The birth rate of the mixed-race families is around 2.3 percent, up 1 percent or more over ordinary families, it said.

The number of Kosians eligible for the mandatory military duty is expected to increase about ten times to 2,200 over the next 10 years, said the spokesman.

South Korea remains technically at war with North Korea since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a permanent peace treaty. The South maintain about 650,000 troops, backed by 28,500 U.S. forces, against the communist North with 1.1 million army.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr