Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
Dispute over incentives for reservists reignites
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Enlisted soldiers shout "The battle will be won by the strong?during basic training at the Korea Army Training Center in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province, on Feb. 14, 2011. The Ministry of National Defense recently said that it will push to revive a system that allows conscripts to receive extra points in recruitment exams after they are discharged, to offer them compensation for serving the nation. Women's organizations immediately expressed their opposition at a time when the job market remains tight. / Korea Times file
By Jun Ji-hye
By Jun Ji-hye
The military established a committee tasked with reforming its culture on Aug. 6 to help ease the mounting public distrust against it in the wake of a series of tragic accidents. Such mishaps featured a shooting spree by an Army sergeant who killed five comrades, and the death of a hazing victim, an Army private first class.
The members of the committee wrapped up their four-month study and announced 22 recommendations to the Ministry of National Defense on Dec. 18.
They included a plan to allow conscripts to receive extra points in recruitment exams at public organizations or firms after they are discharged. This triggered a public controversy following the announcement.
The committee recommended that applicants be given an additional 2 percent on recruitment examinations, with such benefits subject to less than only 10 percent of successful applicants.
It also said an individual can only receive the benefit five times in his lifetime while those who received heavy punishment for serious wrongdoings will be excluded from the proposed benefits.
Defense Minister Han Min-koo announces measures to improve environments in barracks, while Shim Dae-pyung, co-chairman of a committee tasked with reforming the military culture, looks on. / Yonhap
The committee said the measure will help provide compensations to those discharged, given that all able-bodied men are required to serve in the military for about two years under the nation’s mandatory conscription system, as the nation is technically at war with North Korea.
Most draftees that account for a large chunk of the nation’s 650,000-member military are in their early 20s, and are obliged to put their studies or careers on hold to join the armed forces.
This recommendation, however, means a revival of the system which the Constitutional Court previously ruled to be unconstitutional.
The system was initially introduced in 1966 to help military veterans easily adapt to civilian life. At the time, extra points given to them ranged from 3 to 5 percent of the full marks. But following the court’s ruling that such a system is unconstitutional because it discriminates against women and the disabled, it was abolished in 1999.
When announcing the recommendations, Shim Dae-pyung, co-chairman of the committee, explained, “The essence of the system is a matter of social compensation offered to those who devoted themselves to the nation. This is not a matter of men and women, or the handicapped and healthy people.”
Shim argued the court’s 1999 decision pointed out that some contents of the system could be in violation of the Constitution, but did not oppose the purpose of the system itself.
“Considering the ruling, the committee lowered the rate of extra points to 2 percent from previous 3 to 5 percent, and limited the number of times of granting it to five. These were part of efforts to resolve the possible unconstitutional factors in the system,” he said.
He added the committee members acknowledged the legitimacy of the system in terms of the significance of military duty.
Defense Minister Han Min-koo, who co-chaired the committee with Shim, said, “The ministry will review the recommendation to help encourage draftees to successfully carry out their military duty.”
However, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family expressed its opposition to the system, saying the other forms of compensations should be introduced rather than the extra points system. Standing committees of the National Assembly also showed differences over the issue.
Women’s organizations especially heaped criticism against the committee’s recommendation at a time when the job market here remains tight.
Kim Jung-sook, president of the Korean National Council of Women, said she and many women cannot understand why the military wants to reintroduce the system that would frustrate many people in different classes.
“The system was ruled to be unconstitutional in 1999. That already drew a line under this discussion,” she said. “The committee should have come up with other ideas such as offering welfare benefits or educational programs. A considerable number of people are not happy about granting those discharged extra points in job exams.”
When asked whether she is willing to attend the discussion with the defense minister, Kim said no, adding, “We are absolutely against it. Giving extra points, regardless of how much it will be, is unconstitutional. We cannot even hold a discussion about that.”
Cho Yoon-sun, President Park Geun-hye’s senior secretary for political affairs, and former gender equality and family minister, also earlier expressed her skepticism regarding the measure.
“It would be more appropriate to offer them the national pension or to raise monthly pay during their term of service, rather than adopting additional points,” she said during her confirmation hearing to assume the ministerial post in March, 2013.
Mindful of the mounting controversy about the move to revive the system, Defense Minister Han said, “The ministry will conduct sufficient discussions with concerned ministries, institutes and the National Assembly to push for implementing the measure.”
For his part, Rep. Kim Moo-sung, chairman of the governing Saenuri Party, told soldiers, “I promise, I will definitely carry through the measure at the National Assembly.” Kim’s remarks, made during his visit to the Army’s 12th Infantry Division in Yanggu, Gangwon Province, on Dec. 21, added fuel to the already heated discussion, increasing the likelihood that the issue would turn into a fight over gender at the Assembly.
In their efforts to reform the rigid military culture and its decades-old ill practice of bullying and assaults, the committee also called for giving nine credits to those who joined the military while attending a college, and allowing them to take online classes for extra credits at the barracks.
The committee also recommended the defense ministry reduce the current four ranks of conscripts to two or three to root out pervasive abuse and to revamp the hierarchy-based culture in barracks. Critics allege that some privates or private first classes who are beaten and bullied by corporals and sergeants abuse junior comrades after getting promoted.
In April, the Army private first class, indentified by only his surname, Yoon, died after long suffering from physical, mental and even sexual abuse by his senior comrades. Two months later, the Army sergeant, identified by his surname Lim, went on a shooting spree, killing five people and wounding seven others, after allegedly being bullied by his colleagues.
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