Half of the Submarine Crew Members Have Left

Analysis of Navy Data by Rep. Heo Young's Office of the National Defense Committee
56% of Crew Members Leaked Externally in the Last 5 Years

More than half of the submarine crew members trained over the past five years have left the Navy.

On the 23rd, Heo Young, a member of the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly from the Democratic Party of Korea, stated that according to data submitted by the Navy, 56% of the submarine crew members trained in the past five years have left due to retirement or other reasons, accelerating the loss of military strength.

In the past five years, 750 personnel have been trained as submarine crew members in the Navy. Among them, the number of personnel who left each year is 74 in 2019, 67 in 2020, 69 in 2021, 90 in 2022, 71 in 2023, and already 50 this year, totaling 421. More than half of the trained personnel have been lost externally. Although the number of submarine crew members trained in 2023 decreased by 48 compared to 2019, about 70 personnel leave every year, showing a continuous decline in submarine crew members.

The number of non-commissioned officers holding submarine crew qualifications has also been decreasing since peaking in 2021. The number of qualified non-commissioned officers was 1,231 in 2019, 1,255 in 2020, and 1,260 in 2021, but decreased slightly to 1,235 in 2022, 1,191 in 2023, and 1,152 in 2024.

Due to the nature of their duties, submarine crew members live in confined spaces and endure harsh conditions such as being cut off from outside contact. To improve their treatment, the government provides ship duty allowances and submarine crew incentive allowances. The incentive allowance is 300,000 KRW per month for those with more than 3 years but less than 7 years of service, 400,000 KRW per month for those with 7 to less than 10 years, and 500,000 KRW per month for those with more than 10 years of service.

Representative Heo said, “Submarine crew members are at the forefront of maritime combat and essential for maintaining military combat power, so the Ministry of National Defense and the Navy must devise measures to prevent the outflow of submarine personnel.” He added, “To improve the harsh service conditions, economic compensation that can be felt, such as increasing various allowances, should be provided, and measures to strengthen maritime combat power should be discussed promptly.”