[Exclusive] As Resignations of Residents Surge... Ministry of National Defense Establishes New Category for 'Enlistment Waiting'

Revision of regulations to establish 'non-selected active duty personnel' category for mandatory officers
"Excess personnel due to collective resignation of residents... for managing enlistment resources"

The government is pushing for a plan to classify some of the mandatory officer candidates who must enlist as military doctors or public health doctors as 'enlistment waiters' for management purposes. This is interpreted as an effort to adjust the situation after residents who resigned in protest against the government's medical school expansion policy in February this year all applied for enlistment at once next year, and to prepare for a future shortage of military doctors.

According to the Ministry of National Defense's 'Partial Amendment to the Regulations on the Selection and Enlistment of Medical and Veterinary Officers' confirmed by Asia Economy on the 19th, a plan is underway to establish a new category called 'Non-selected Active Duty (tentative name)' in the classification system for mandatory officer candidates.

A Ministry of National Defense official explained the reason for pushing the amendment, saying, "In previous years, there was no situation where enlistment waiters appeared, but (due to the mass resignation of residents) an excessive number of personnel occurred," and added, "'Non-selected Active Duty' is a concept that includes not only supplementary service personnel but also 'enlistment waiters' who have not been selected or judged as active duty or supplementary service. The Military Manpower Administration will select supplementary service personnel from these individuals and manage enlistment waiting resources."

Mandatory officer candidates are individuals who complete a prescribed course at training hospitals, etc., to secure active duty officers in medical fields that are difficult to train within the military in advance, and are then appointed as officers. According to Article 10 of the current regulations, mandatory officer candidates are classified as 'active duty (military doctors)' and 'supplementary service (public health doctors, conscription examination doctors, specialized research personnel).' The Ministry of National Defense first selects active duty personnel from the mandatory officer candidates and classifies the excess personnel as supplementary service.

Typically, medical students write a 'Medical Officer Candidate Training Pledge' before starting the internship, which is the resident training process after graduating from medical school. Once they sign the pledge, they become mandatory officer candidates and cannot enlist as regular soldiers. Even if they resign from the residency training institution, they become enlistment candidates for medical officer candidates according to Article 58 of the Military Service Act and Article 120 of its Enforcement Decree. Based on these regulations, the Ministry of National Defense has deployed about 1,000 personnel annually, including 700-800 military doctors and 250-500 public health doctors. It is known that most male residents who resigned and have not yet completed military service are registered as mandatory officer candidates.

However, there are no specific regulations for excess personnel when both military doctors and public health doctors are fully staffed. This is because the total number of mandatory officer candidates was usually less than the total quota. A Military Manpower Administration official explained, "Previously, those classified as supplementary service (public health doctors, conscription examination doctors, specialized research personnel) were fewer than the required number."

Partial amendment to the "Regulations on the Selection and Enlistment of Mandatory and Contract Officers." Provided by the reader

However, next year, thousands of resigned residents hope to enlist all at once, causing the Ministry of National Defense to face difficulties in managing the supply of military doctors. If all remaining personnel, excluding those assigned as military doctors under current regulations, are placed in supplementary service, they cannot be selected as military doctors later, which could lead to a shortage of military doctors in 2-3 years. Therefore, through the amendment of the regulations, excess personnel will be classified as 'Non-selected Active Duty,' providing grounds to select them as military doctors in the future, even if not immediately next year.

According to the Military Manpower Administration, as of the end of October this year, about 3,000 mandatory officer candidates resigned from residency training institutions. If they all wish to enlist at once, this greatly exceeds the usual annual demand of about 1,000. The Military Manpower Administration warned last month that there could be cases where mandatory officer candidates have to wait up to four years before actual enlistment.

However, the military authorities denied suspicions raised by some in the medical community that "the government is trying to prevent resigned residents from enlisting as regular soldiers." This is because once they are registered as mandatory officer candidates, it is impossible to serve as regular soldiers. A Military Manpower Administration official said, "All those registered as medical officer candidates, including those who completed or discontinued training, must fulfill their military service in designated fields such as medical officers and public health doctors according to the Military Service Act."

The Ministry of National Defense also denied rumors that "dentists classified as excess personnel served as regular soldiers," stating, "There has been no confirmed case of medical officer candidates enlisting as regular soldiers."