Joint Proposal by Jeong Dongyoung and Choi Hyungdoo Scheduled for the 27th
Positive Response Expected as Industry Stresses the Need
As securing domestic artificial intelligence (AI) talent has emerged as an important agenda due to incidents like the ‘DeepSeek Shock,’ lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties are joining forces to propose an amendment to the Military Service Act that applies special military service exemptions to the AI field.
According to the National Assembly on the 27th, about 30 lawmakers from both parties, including Jeong Dong-young of the Democratic Party of Korea and Choi Hyung-doo of the People Power Party, are scheduled to jointly propose an amendment to the Military Service Act that includes a special military service exemption system for talents in advanced fields such as artificial intelligence. Although the proposal was initially planned for early to mid-this month, the timing was delayed due to signing the proposal and gathering industry opinions.
The two lawmakers leading the joint proposal hold key AI-related positions in their parties. Jeong serves as the vice-chairman of the AI Strong Nation Committee, chaired by Lee Jae-myung in the Democratic Party, and has also led the AI Promotion Task Force. Choi has served as vice-chairman of the People Power Party’s Special Committee for Advancing to a Top 3 AI Power and as the ruling party’s secretary on the National Assembly’s Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee (STIBC).
The core of the amendment to the Military Service Act is to mandate the expansion of designated military service companies (including large corporations, large corporate research institutes, and research and development companies) eligible for professional research and industrial technical personnel to include AI and advanced industry sectors. The criteria for soldiers eligible for special exemptions in these fields are expected to be delegated to enforcement ordinances. Under the current Military Service Act, eligibility for professional research personnel and industrial technical personnel includes conditions such as △holding a master’s degree or higher △completion of a doctoral course at a natural science graduate school selected as a designated military service company △employment at a designated period industry company.
Since the industry has emphasized the necessity ahead of the bill’s proposal, a positive response is expected regarding the introduction of such a bill. Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon reportedly mentioned special military service exemptions as a concrete measure to strengthen AI capabilities at the National AI Committee meeting held on the 20th. At the STIBC AI issue public hearing held on the 25th, Park Sung-ho, chairman of the Korea Internet Corporations Association, also stated, “The special military service exemption system played a significant role in enabling our country to become one of the few nations in the world to possess a domestic platform.”
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