Page 230 - 2018 Defense White Paper

Section 1 Instilling a New Barracks

Culture Trusted by the People

The ROK Armed Forces has achieved significant outcomes by pursuing the innovation of the barracks culture,
as evidenced by the reduced number of related incidents. However, servicemembers living in barracks still face
unreasonable practices in which they are viewed as objects of control, not subjects capable of autonomous
thinking. To build strong armed forces that answer the calls of our time, the ROK Armed Forces needs to
improve the military culture, which has been less than welcoming toward changes, and each servicemember
should be treated as an independent human being. The MND has taken various measures aimed at instilling
a barracks culture that meets the people’s expectations by protecting the autonomy and basic rights of
servicemembers.

1. Fostering a Barracks Culture Driven by Autonomy and
Responsibility

| Harmony between Autonomy and Responsibility | One of the key duties of the ROK
Armed Forces is to maintain combat readiness at all times. To fulf ill this duty, the ROK Armed

Forces needs to instill a barracks culture where autonomy and responsibility exist in harmony
based on proper discipline, and in which servicemembers focus on education and training during
working hours, and are given time to pursue self-development activities and hobbies during of f

hours.
The MND has achieved signif icant outcomes through its barracks culture innovation
efforts launched in 2014, as evidenced by the reduced number of related incidents, which has

been positively received by the public. On the other hand, it has been pointed out that ROK
servicemembers need to be instilled with a resolve for compliance with service rules and a sense
of responsibility for their missions.

The MND will continue to foster a barracks culture in which servicemembers act autonomously
with a sense of responsibility, and make their best efforts to comply with the prescribed rules
and fulf ill their responsibilities as “democratic citizens in military uniform.”

228 Chapter 6 Instilling a High-Morale Military Culture Trusted by the People