The Top Improvement Needed in the Military is Welfare: "Outdoor Showers Even During the Rainy Season"

Analysis Results of Military Community Mapyeon Board Released
44% Say "Welfare Must Be Improved"... Criticism of Junior Officer Treatment Also Raised

A survey revealed that the most urgent issue to be improved in the military is ‘welfare.’

On the 18th, 'Gatda Communication,' which operates the private military life communication community app ‘Mapyeon (Letter of the Heart),’ disclosed these results after analyzing posts on ‘Please Respond Army,’ a space for writing about Army improvement and development.

Among about 140 opinions accumulated on the bulletin board over three months since Mapyeon’s official launch in March, 61 posts (43.6%) were related to welfare. Including 22 opinions on the aging soldiers’ barracks, which are also considered part of welfare, more than half of the requests were for welfare improvements.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

A participant who enlisted in 2021 said, “The regiment I served in had poor shower facilities inside the barracks, so we often moved to outdoor showers,” adding, “During the rainy season, after showering, we would put on ponchos and return to the barracks, but the smell would come back. It’s the 21st century, so it would be good to have proper shower facilities.”

Another participant suggested, “Please provide sufficient support such as night vision equipment to enable practical training,” and “Taking lessons from the Ukraine war where battles occurred indiscriminately in border areas and urban centers, our military should increase the proportion of training related to urban warfare.”

Another participant raised concerns about the poor treatment of junior officers and civilian military personnel. He pointed out, “As soldiers’ monthly pay rose to 2 million won, the application rate for officers and non-commissioned officers has dropped. This is an obvious consequence,” adding, “Their service period is much longer than soldiers’, their pay is much lower, and although it is a profession, welfare is poor, and personal leisure or family care is not supported at all.”

He continued, “I know the Ministry of National Defense is making many efforts to improve this, but I don’t know if they are truly trying to listen to honest opinions,” emphasizing, “If they really want to improve the treatment of junior officers, they should listen to active-duty junior officers who have decided to leave or those who have recently been discharged.”

There were also many voices calling for improvements in education and training (28 cases), personnel (22 cases), barracks (22 cases), and equipment (12 cases). Various opinions were posted regarding difficulties experienced in areas with poor access to medical facilities, discriminatory pay and allowances depending on working conditions, and support for reservists.

Meanwhile, Mapyeon is a platform developed with the purpose of providing a place where prospective enlistees, active-duty soldiers, and veterans can share military experiences and resolve questions about military life. It is a community operated by civilians based on user participation, not by military authorities, guaranteeing anonymity; however, content that reveals personal information or exceeds military security and legal restrictions is deleted through real-time monitoring.