Lee Jong-seop "Desperate Need for National Assembly Support to Improve Conditions for Junior Officers"

Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop requested the National Assembly's cooperation, stating, "Support from the committee members, such as securing budgets and revising laws, is crucial to improving the service conditions for junior officers."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the morning of the 23rd, Minister Lee appeared before the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly and stated, "We are pursuing various measures to drastically improve the service conditions of junior officers, who are the foundation of our military and the core of building a strong military."

Previously, the Ministry of National Defense planned to increase the promotion pay for sergeants, the standard pay grade for performance bonuses for captains (junior) and sergeants, and duty pay to the level of public officials, as well as to raise short-term service incentives and allowances. They also decided to remodel aging officer quarters and improve them to single-occupancy rooms.

Regarding the current security situation, Minister Lee emphasized, "Recently, North Korea has threatened peace and stability not only on the Korean Peninsula but worldwide through various missile provocations, including ICBMs. Amid this severe security situation, our military maintains a firm military readiness posture and is diligently focusing on realistic training to faithfully carry out the mission of protecting the lives and property of the people."

The Ministry of National Defense also reported on the 'Freedom Shield' (FS) joint exercise, which began on the 13th at the National Defense Committee, as well as the Defense Innovation 4.0 basic plan. The Ministry explained that this FS exercise applied nuclear threat scenarios, including North Korea's nuclear and missile unusual activities and rhetorical threats, and cultivated the ability to perform strategic deterrence and response operations in a nuclear crisis. Additionally, during this exercise period, they resumed brigade-level or higher joint outdoor maneuver training, including division-level Ssangryong joint amphibious landing exercises, joint carrier strike group exercises, and scientific combat training.

According to the Ministry of National Defense, this FS exercise was conducted in two phases: crisis management training from the 6th to the 9th and the main exercise starting on the 13th. The main exercise was operated for the first time continuously for 24 hours, day and night. The main exercise concludes today.