5-Year Veteran Discharge, Highest Navy Proportion Reason..."Lower Allowances Than Coast Guard"

Sung Il-jong, Chairman of the Policy Committee of the People Power Party, is delivering opening remarks at the party-government meeting held on the 28th at the National Assembly to discuss measures to resolve the late-night taxi shortage. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Seong Il-jong, a member of the National Defense Committee and the Policy Committee Chair of the People Power Party, stated on the 29th that "Among officers commissioned from the three military academies, the Navy had a notably high rate of '5-year early discharge' applicants."

The 5-year early discharge system allows officers who initially committed to long-term service but later change their minds to leave the military early at their 5th year of service, without completing the mandatory 10-year service period.

According to data titled 'Applications and Status of 5-Year Early Discharge among Officers Commissioned from the Three Military Academies in the Last 10 Years,' submitted by the Ministry of National Defense to Representative Seong, the proportion of applicants for 5-year early discharge among graduates of the three academies over the past decade was 10.1% (212 officers) for the Korea Army Academy and 10% (150 officers) for the Korea Air Force Academy, showing almost identical rates for the Army and Air Force.

However, the Korea Naval Academy stood out with 13.8% (186 officers) of commissioned officers applying for 5-year early discharge.

The proportion of those who applied and actually discharged early was also notably higher for the Navy: 9.3% (195 officers) for the Korea Army Academy and 8.7% (130 officers) for the Korea Air Force Academy showed little difference, while the Korea Naval Academy had a rate of 11.7% (157 officers).

This has been pointed out as due to the low hazard pay for ship duty personnel. Representative Seong compared the monthly allowances received by Navy ship duty personnel (Sergeant, Grade 8) and Coast Guard ship duty personnel (Sergeant, Grade 10) and found a difference exceeding 1.7 million KRW per month. Representative Seong emphasized, "To secure skilled naval officers, it is urgent to improve the treatment of naval officers, including the adjustment of allowances for ship duty personnel."