Yu Seung-min warns selective conscription will push poor, low-credential youth into military

[Blog of former People Power Party lawmaker Yu Seung-min]

Former People Power Party lawmaker Yu Seung-min has criticized the Ministry of National Defense's push to introduce a selective conscription system, raising doubts about its fairness and equity.

Yu posted on his social media account Thursday, saying President Lee Jae Myung's selective conscription plan essentially tells young men to "choose for themselves — either become a volunteer soldier with higher pay and longer service, or a conscript with lower pay and shorter service." He added cautiously that "no one can rashly predict what advantages or disadvantages this new military service system will bring."

He questioned whether the military could remain a strong fighting force if, on the same day, one private enlists as a career soldier serving 36 to 48 months while another serves as a conscript for only 10 to 18 months — creating a unit with personnel serving under vastly different conditions.

Yu also raised the issue of equity.

"We must also answer the fundamental question: is selective conscription just? Is it fair?" he said. "The youth of young people — whether rich or poor — is equally precious to everyone. The constitutional duty of military service must be equal for all."

He said the "choice" in selective conscription is likely to become "a choice coerced by poverty" in practice, adding that "the answer is already there if you look at the reality of the United States after it introduced an all-volunteer force."

"If young people who are poor, struggling to find jobs and make ends meet, and have low credentials are driven into becoming career soldiers, then selective conscription does nothing more than divide volunteers from conscripts based on economic circumstances," he said. He warned that such volunteer soldiers "may spend several precious years of their early twenties in the military and fall further behind after discharge. This is neither fair nor equitable."

Yu also raised the issue of female conscription in the context of a troop shortage driven by the country's low birth rate and demographic cliff.

"Young people who value fairness may come to see female conscription as the more equitable option if military manpower runs short," he said. He also noted that raising soldiers' salaries and improving conditions for junior officers and non-commissioned officers would require a substantial budget, making it difficult to secure the funding a volunteer system would need.

"President Lee Jae Myung may think, 'They cannot find jobs anyway, so they will be happy with more money,' but he must not overlook the fact that this could amount to stigmatizing those who choose it as poor and with nowhere else to go," Yu said. "This is a matter of national security and of young people's lives — I urge him to think it over again, more carefully and responsibly."

Gradual shift to volunteer force, expansion of officer ratio

President Lee Jae Myung aims a K-6 heavy machine gun aboard a K9A1 self-propelled howitzer during a visit to the Marine Corps' Yeonpyeong unit in Ongjin-gun, Incheon, on Wednesday. [Yonhap]

The military is pursuing a defense reform plan to reduce the proportion of enlisted conscripts and increase the share of officers and non-commissioned officers, as the pool of eligible conscripts shrinks due to the country's low birth rate and demographic cliff.

In line with that goal, President Lee visited the Marine Corps' Yeonpyeong unit on Wednesday and reaffirmed his selective conscription policy, saying, "As I have promised on multiple occasions, I will minimize the number of conscripts and allow people to choose the military as their own career through voluntary enlistment."

The Ministry of National Defense plans to advance the selective conscription policy by introducing a "technology-intensive non-commissioned officer" position in advanced science and technology fields, including manned-unmanned teaming systems, cyber operations and AI.

The service term for the new position would be approximately four to five years. The ministry is also reviewing a plan to guarantee competitive pay and benefits, and to structure the role so that personnel can build expertise in advanced science and technology during their service and connect that experience to civilian employment after discharge.

"We are reviewing ways to expand service options while maintaining universal conscription, and that is the basic concept of selective conscription," Defense Ministry spokesperson Jeong Bit-na said. "Currently, those subject to military service can serve as officers, non-commissioned officers or enlisted soldiers — we are reviewing various incentive measures to expand the option of serving as a technology-intensive non-commissioned officer."

The ministry is pursuing the selective conscription policy through the introduction of a "technology-intensive non-commissioned officer" position in advanced science and technology fields, including manned-unmanned teaming systems, cyber operations and AI.

ygmoon@heraldcorp.com