[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter]On the 20th, the Ministry of National Defense stated regarding the recently raised issues of the volunteer military system and female conscription in the Blue House's public petition and some political circles, "Any reform encompassing all military service systems must be based on the security situation."
At the regular briefing that day, Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Bu Seung-chan responded to related inquiries by saying this, then explained, "Since it is a matter to be decided by comprehensively considering military effectiveness, social consensus through public agreement, and other factors, it is not appropriate for the Ministry of National Defense to clearly express any position." When asked if this meant the stance was that female conscription is premature, the spokesperson answered "Yes."
He further emphasized, "There are too many steps to go through," adding, "Regarding female conscription, rather than a simple answer of support or opposition, all considerations must be comprehensively reviewed before making a decision."
Earlier, on the 16th, a petition titled 'Please include women in the conscription target' was posted on the Blue House public petition board, drawing attention. As of the morning of this day, just four days after posting, the petition had received over 105,000 endorsements.
Around the same time, Park Yong-jin, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, proposed the volunteer military system and the so-called 'gender-equal service system' through a recently published book.
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