Military Mutual Aid Association Promotes Hope Plus Project for Junior Officers

Financial Support for the Financially Vulnerable
Providing Financial Consulting to Help Plan for the Future

The Military Mutual Aid Association is partnering with the Ministry of National Defense to promote the ‘Hope Plus Project’ for junior officers.

The ‘Hope Plus Project’ is a new welfare system by the Military Mutual Aid Association designed to help junior officers, the future of national defense power, focus on their military service by supporting their ‘financial stability.’ Going forward, the Military Mutual Aid Association will collaborate with the Ministry of National Defense to implement ▲personal rehabilitation guidance and cost support ▲living assistance loan support ▲financial planning consulting for junior officer members. The Military Mutual Aid Association finalized the ‘Hope Plus Project’ at the 226th Board of Directors meeting on May 26 and plans to implement it starting July 1.

From now on, financially vulnerable members such as those with poor credit will be able to handle everything from consultations with law firms to rehabilitation applications through the Military Mutual Aid Association. Many junior officers are unaware of the personal rehabilitation system, and preparing rehabilitation procedures without expert help is very complicated. Additionally, the costs for hiring a lawyer, court fees, and delivery charges for the rehabilitation application are burdensome. The Military Mutual Aid Association has contracted with a law firm specializing in rehabilitation to assist members in conveniently proceeding from consultation to court rehabilitation application and plans to support personal rehabilitation costs up to 1 million KRW.

The Military Mutual Aid Association plans to provide living assistance loans to junior officer members who face financial difficulties due to family circumstances. Professional soldiers can receive loans (interest rate 6.3%) secured by their retirement pay, but junior officers with less than three years of service have limited retirement pay, making it difficult to utilize such loans. The Military Mutual Aid Association’s living assistance loan offers up to 5 million KRW at an interest rate of 5.9%. Candidates will be recommended by unit commanders and selected through screening by each military branch. Priority support will be given to junior officers who diligently perform their duties despite difficult circumstances.

To enhance the economic self-reliance of junior officers, financial consulting worth 50,000 to 100,000 KRW will also be provided free of charge. Eligible members are those aged 18 to 39. Since the consultation is conducted online remotely, even those working in remote mountainous areas can apply as long as they have internet access.

By submitting basic information and desired consultation topics on the Military Mutual Aid Association’s website, members can receive consulting through specialized financial planning institutions. Professional consultants holding financial certifications such as CFP and AFPK provide everything from basic financial planning consultations to specific solutions like lump-sum savings or retirement planning. The Military Mutual Aid Association will strictly manage the process to ensure that consultants do not solicit products or request additional fees under the guise of consulting.

The Military Mutual Aid Association will actively guide members to ensure that no one misses out on support due to lack of awareness of the ‘Hope Plus Project,’ including financial support and financial consulting.

The ‘Hope Plus Project’ is the third project promoted as part of the Military Mutual Aid Association’s ‘Member First Management.’ Based on management achievements such as seven consecutive years of surplus, the Military Mutual Aid Association has expanded welfare systems to stabilize members’ lives, including doubling childbirth congratulatory payments and lowering retirement benefit loan interest rates by 0.6 percentage points.

Jae-gwan Jeong, Chairman of the Military Mutual Aid Association, said, “We will continue to cooperate with the Ministry of National Defense to establish this as a system that practically helps junior officer members, the future of our armed forces,” and added, “We will continue to actively improve welfare systems and make multifaceted efforts to provide better benefits by collecting members’ opinions.”