Page 95 - 2018 Defense White Paper

Section 6 Strengthening Education and

Training Focused on

Combat Missions

The MND is actively pursuing and realizing its objective to foster “strong combatants and combat troops that
fight and defeat enemies” by reinforcing realistic unit training and enhancing servicemembers’ spritual force.
It is also enhancing the school education system to foster competent officers fit for patterns and the battlefield
environment of future warfare. Moreover, to secure a superior workforce, the ROK Armed Forces is incrementally Chapter 3
expanding the retainment of long-term service officers and improving the benefits and compensations for short-
term service officers.

1. Acquiring Superior Workforce and Fostering Military

Professionals

| Acquiring Superior Workforce | “Defense Reform 2.0” involves the reorganization of the

troop structure to develop elite forces focused on officers as well as the adoption of advanced
weapons systems that create a greater need for competent off icers to operate them. Meanwhile,
it is estimated that acquiring able cadre candidates will become increasingly challenging as

the pool of people wanting to serve as off icers or noncommissioned off icers (NCOs) would
likely decline if the population capable of military service continues to decrease and the youth
employment rate increases.

To acquire talents, the ROK Armed Forces is expanding the recruitment and retainment of
long-term service of f icers, promoting military service as a career. The overall quota of officers
will be adjusted in a way that reduces the recruitment of junior of f icers by cutting down the

number of staff sergeants as well as f irst and second lieutenants while increasing the number of
off icers serving a long-term career as soldiers. By doing so, the ROK Armed Forces will gradually
enhance its workforce management system into the “small-scale acquisition and long-term

Section 6 Strengthening Education and Training Focused on Combat Missions 93