By Jun Ji-hye
The Ministry of National Defense said Thursday that it will replace soldiers that serve at shops on military bases, known as post exchanges (PX), with civilians as part of efforts to reduce the total number of troops.
The initiative is part of the ministry’s five-year plan and features a move to open the doors of service support units to private companies in order to cut down the number of soldiers by 2,500 by the year 2019.
Soldiers assigned to laundry and waste disposal will also be replaced with civilians.
“The short-term goal is to reduce the number by 800 by the year 2017,” said the ministry in a press release. “We will enter into contracts with private companies in order to entrust them with managing duties conducted by service support units.”
Those who have been working on such duties will be reassigned to combat forces, it added.
The ministry noted that the plan was designed to cut down expenses of defense budget by 240 billion won ($219 million) and reinvest this money in core fields such as the development of military technology.
The plan also included entrusting private enterprises with managing military facilities, cleaning and weeding to ensure that soldiers can have enough break time.
“The ministry plans to conduct this at four units on a trial basis by the year 2016, and then push for implementing it across the board,” it said.
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