"Daily Civil Service Allowance 8,000 Won... Active Soldier 'Candid Confession' That They Can't Even Receive It All"

"Disappointed that minimum compensation was not provided"
Unit side "Rest days guaranteed as planned"

Recently, heavy rain in the Chungcheong region caused various casualties, and a professional soldier who volunteered for public service lamented that despite giving up their day off, they did not receive appropriate compensation.

Soldier A, who works in the Chungcheong region, said on the Facebook page 'Delivered on behalf of the Army Training Center (Yukdaejeon)' on the 15th, "On hot summer days, enduring severe odors, bad weather, and harsh conditions, we consider it our fundamental duty as soldiers to protect the lives and property of the people, and our unit members are sweating profusely."

He pointed out, "As a soldier, I am ready to engage in operations regardless of weekdays or weekends, but it is regrettable that minimum compensation for this is not provided." He continued, "There is an emergency duty allowance (disaster and safety management), but it is set at 8,000 won per day, and most of the field personnel in the units do not receive it; instead, it is being used by the general officer-level disaster countermeasure headquarters," adding, "The budget itself is set too low, so it is impossible to cover all personnel deployed on site."

Additionally, A said, "We start work at 5 a.m. and are deployed in operations until the afternoon or even evening if late, but the maximum recognized overtime per day is 4 hours, and the rest is compensated with 0.5 days of substitute leave," questioning, "Is it truly fair compensation to make us work on weekends and tell us to rest the equivalent amount on weekdays?"

He also raised concerns about meal issues. A said, "Sometimes local governments provide meals, but when sudden public support operations are underway, officers are excluded from the existing meal distribution," revealing, "We end up buying food ourselves or getting by with cup noodles."

Furthermore, A emphasized, "As soldiers entrusted with the mission to protect the lives and property of the people, we will do our best. However, I earnestly ask that you understand that there are such difficulties behind the scenes."

Netizens who saw the post responded with comments such as, "I look forward to a wonderful Republic of Korea that properly treats soldiers who work hard for the country," "If you make them work, give them proper compensation," and "It is very unfortunate that the military might be the only place where they make you work on weekends and don’t even provide meals."

As the controversy spread, the unit issued a statement clarifying its position. The unit stated, "Since the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters was not formed, the emergency duty allowance of 8,000 won was not paid for this operation," and "Therefore, the general officer-level disaster countermeasure headquarters has never used the emergency duty allowance." While it is true that the field personnel deployed did not receive the 8,000 won emergency duty allowance as A claimed, the unit denied that it was because the allowance was used for the general officer-level disaster countermeasure headquarters’ operating expenses.

They also said, "Meals were provided by local governments to soldiers deployed on the 14th, and soldiers called out on holidays will be guaranteed corresponding leave during that period," adding, "The unit allocates disaster recovery increment funds (4,000 won) on a daily basis to support the purchase of necessary items such as snacks and beverages."