Female sailors to board submarines

Female soldiers salute to the national flag during a ceremony to mark the 65th anniversary of women’s entry into the armed forces, at the MND Convention in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Friday. / Yonhap

By Kim Hyo-jin

The military is considering assigning female sailors to submarines around 2020, according to the Navy headquarters, Friday.

“Female sailors will be able to join the 3,000-ton Jangbogo III around 2020, when it starts operations. That’s part of our plans to increase the roles of female sailors,” a Navy headquarters official said.

It was customary that male sailors take charge of submarines.

The new plan came as the proportion of females serving in the military is rising, he added.

As of the end of August, 1,580 female sailors are on duty in the Navy and the Marine Corps. They consist of four percent of the quota for military officers.

The Navy headquarters unveiled its plan to increase its percentage to seven percent for navy officer and five percent for noncommissioned officers.

Females entered the Navy first as nurse officers in April 1949. In 2001, the first female navy officer was posted to a battle ship, followed by a female noncommissioned officer in 2004.

The Navy has yet to post female sailors to the Underwater Demolition Team (UDT), Underwater Demolitions Unit (UDU), and Ship Salvage Unit (SSU).

But it is likely that females will be posted to these duties in the near future, the official said.

In the face of a rise in female sailors, the Navy set up the Gender Equality Center in May. It was the first among the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force.