Page 238 - 2018 Defense White Paper

Section 2 Improving the Welfare and

Working Environment for

Servicemembers

Despite the continued efforts to improve the living environment and treatment of servicemembers in barracks,
the level of welfare for servicemembers still needs improvement. To address this issue, the MND is exerting
various efforts to radically improve the conditions of military service, including reasonable remunerations for
fulfilling their duty of military service, and, ultimately, foster a barracks culture in which “people want to join the
military and parents can send their children without worrying.”

1. Radical Improvement of Service Conditions

| Reasonable Remuneration for Military Service | To provide reasonable remunerations for
those fulf illing their duty of military service and enhance the state’s responsibility in this matter,
the MND raised the wages of enlisted servicemembers by 87.8% from the previous year as of

January 2018. Thanks to the raise, enlisted servicemembers now have surplus money between
KRW 40,000 and KRW 140,000 per month, depending on their ranks, even after deducting the
essential expenses incurred by their lives in the barracks (KRW 259,000).

In connection with the raise, the MND worked toward
expanding savings plans for the enlisted to help them save
their earnings and use the money to propel themselves

into the civilian society after discharge. In August 2018,
the MND signed MOUs with 14 commercial banks
to develop and launch the Soldiers Tomorrow Ready MND launched the Soldiers Tomorrow
Ready Savings for Servicemembers.
Savings for servicemembers, which provides high-interest
rates and tax exemptions, and allows servicemembers to deposit up to KRW 400,000 per month.
In addition, as a part of the remuneration for serving in the military, the MND plans to

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