[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] On the 7th, Defense Minister Seo Wook officially apologized for the controversy over the treatment of soldiers quarantined due to COVID-19. He also announced plans to improve the overall living conditions of soldiers. First, a plan is being promoted to raise the basic meal allowance per soldier from 8,790 won this year to around 10,500 won by next year.
This is related to the recent criticism over poor meals provided to soldiers quarantined due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), where the per-meal cost for soldiers (2,930 won) was lower than that for high school students (3,625 won).
In particular, △ the amount of preferred items such as meat favored by soldiers will be increased by about 10%, and △ the scope of the autonomous operating meal allowance will be expanded so that each unit can freely purchase necessary ingredients.
On the morning of the same day, Minister Seo held the 11th All-Army Major Commanders Meeting related to COVID-19 at the Ministry of National Defense building and said, "As the Minister of National Defense, I once again deeply feel responsible and apologize together with all commanders of the army for causing concern to the public due to poor meals for quarantined soldiers, poor facility provision, and insufficient guarantee of basic rights of recruits during measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in some units."
He continued, "We failed to carefully look after our soldiers who have devoted themselves on the front lines for the country and the people," and "We also did not deeply understand the hardships of junior officers who live by setting an example for soldiers despite difficult conditions."
Minister Seo added, "Going forward, we will promptly improve the overall living conditions so that soldiers can focus on their assigned missions while having their basic rights and human rights guaranteed," and "At the same time, we will do our best to improve the command conditions and welfare of junior officers."
He urged commanders, "While maintaining readiness and responding to COVID-19, I hope you will pay close attention to ensuring a balance between the human rights and basic rights of soldiers," and "I ask you to make today’s meeting a starting point to improve soldiers’ barracks living conditions and strengthen their human rights and basic rights to find balance."
Regarding soldiers’ use of mobile phones, Minister Seo said, "Our soldiers are a generation for whom communication based on digital culture is as natural as breathing," and evaluated, "The use of mobile phones by soldiers helps alleviate social isolation, provides conditions for self-development, and plays a positive role in improving human rights in our military."
He added, "Learning from this incident, I ask you to improve the military’s grievance handling system and the treatment of soldiers, and to strive to communicate with soldiers on the ground with sincere and open hearts."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
