Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

On October 1st, the 70th anniversary of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Armed Forces, soldiers were discharged for the first time under the plan to reduce the mandatory military service period.

The soldiers enlisted on January 3rd, 2017 and their original discharge date was planned for October 2nd, 2018, but with the reduction in the service period, they were discharged one day earlier, on October 1st. 

Following its announcement of the change in the service period last July, the Ministry of National Defense has started its plan to gradually reduce the service length beginning October 1st after going through the required legal procedures, including reporting to the National Assembly Defense Committee, deliberation in the Cabinet meeting, and Presidential approval. The ministry has a plan to complete applying reductions to service periods with the Army draftees whose discharge date is planned for December 14th, 2021, with a reduction of one day being applied every two weeks.  

The service period for soldiers in the Army and the Marine Corps will be reduced from the current 21 months to 18 months. The service period for the Navy will also be reduced by three months, from 23 months to 20 months. For the Air Force, the service length will be reduced by two months, from the current 24 months to 22 months, because the enlistment rate in 2004 was low and the service length was already reduced by a month. Also, for public service workers the service length will be reduced to 21 months from the current 24 months, and to 23 months for industrial service workers transferred from reservist duty from the current 26 months. Individual discharge date based on the date of enlistment can be checked under 'Check Discharge Date' on the Military Manpower Administration website. 

By Chul-Hwan, Kim < droid001@dema.mil.kr >

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