Page 122 - 2018 Defense White Paper

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Second, noncombat areas will be managed by civilian workforc e, including civilian military
workers, while servicemembers will be mainly assigned to operations and combat positions.
Third, the rank structure of off icers and NCOs will be transformed from a perfect pyramid

shape to a pot shape, taking into consideration the prospect of acquiring junior off icers, the
operation of high-tech equipment, and the necessity to secure prof icient combat power. The
current hierarchy of off icers and NCOs is an inef f icient one, where the share of low-rank

off icers in the total quota is excessive, leading to the “large-scale acquisition and short-term
utilization of off icers.” Therefore, the plan is to transform the hierarchy into a pot shape, where
lower ranks are reduced and mid-level ranks are increased, enabling the “small-scale acquisition

and long-term utilization of of f icers.”

| Expanding the Employment of Civilian Workforce in Noncombat Fields | To prevent
the potential loss of combat power caused by the reduction of standing troops, the MND

plans to significantly increase the share of civilian personnel in the defense manpower from the
current 5% to 10%. Positions in noncombat f ields, excluding combat, and command and control

positions involving the operations and management of f irearms and ammunition, which must
be performed by military personnel, will be f illed in by civilian workforc e. Civilian military
employees will replace military personnel in noncombat positions that require expertise and
long-term services including those in maintenance and budgeting. Moreover, civilian workers

will take over areas, such as computation, facilities and installations management, and language,
where civilian expertise can be useful. Furthermore, reservists with military-related expertise
and skills will be employed in some of the military positions to be converted into civilian jobs.

| Adjusting the Quota of General Officers and Rationalizing Ranks | Until 2012, the
quota of general off icers had remained little changed compared to that of the period before the

defense reforms, while the number of troops has been cut down, and units have been restructured
in accordance with defense reforms. In 2012, the MND set a plan to reduce the quota of general
of f icers by 60, but it decreased by only 8 by 2017, prompting criticism internally and externally.

Changes in the quota of general off icers since the 1950s are shown in [Chart 4-6].
The MND, therefore, chose the reduction in the number of general of f icers as a core task of
Defense Reform 2.0. It set the “General Off icer Quota Adjustment Plan” under the following

120 Chapter 4 Building Elite Armed Forces Using Advanced Technology