Park Yong-jin: "Mandatory Basic Military Training for Women... Introduction of Mixed-Gender and Volunteer Military System Needed"

Democratic Party presidential primary candidate Park Yong-jin is holding a press conference on the pledge for gender-equal military service at the National Assembly Communication Office on the 16th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] Democratic Party presidential candidate Park Yong-jin announced on the 16th a gender-equal military service system plan centered on the 'mandatory basic military training for both men and women.'

At a press conference held at the National Assembly Communication Office on the same day, Park stated, "Both women and men should be able to fulfill their national defense duties together, and women should become proud main players in national defense." He added, "We will introduce a mixed military service system where both men and women are required to undergo basic military training for about 40 to 100 days," and explained, "After the basic military training, a strong reserve force system will be operated, where individuals receive retraining for a period set by the state."

At the same time, he announced plans to convert the current conscription system into a volunteer military system. Park said, "I am confident that even if we completely switch to a volunteer military system in the future, there will be no problems with our country's national defense."

According to data submitted by the National Assembly Budget Office at Park's request, the additional annual budget required for the gender-equal military service system is estimated at about 300 billion KRW, including 23.3 billion KRW for military service examination costs and 289 billion KRW for basic military training costs. Adding the costs for dormitory construction and reserve force operation, the total financial requirement is expected to be around 500 billion KRW.

Park pledged that to realize the gender-equal military service system, a 'Gender-Equal Military Service System Preparation Committee' will be established in the first year of his presidential term. This committee will discuss the size of female forces, types of units, deployment, roles, and budget requirements.

He added, "The preparation committee will study and refer to overseas cases such as Norway and Israel to design a Korean-style military service system suited to our conditions and circumstances."