Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Real Reality]

Army to Phase Out Mandatory Service
The Army will rely on volunteers for 80 percent of its new recruits by 2020, phasing out the current mandatory conscription of soldiers, according to an Army Policy Report.... The military reform plan calls for cutting 190,000 soldiers by 2020 to make a force of some 500,000 from the current 690,000.
Meanwhile, the Army plans to increase the number of female officers by 4,000 in stages to make it some 7,000 by 2020. Currently, there are some 3,000 female officers in the Army, 3.5 percent of the total number of officers
By Jung Sung-ki, Korea Times (July 30, 2006)
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200607/kt2006073017450753460.htm

[Juregen]

This is good news

[The Lemon]

"Phasing out", to me, should mean "eventually zero". This is not phasing out, more like "gradually reducing, over two decades". In 2020 - 14 years from now - hundreds of thousands of S Korean soldiers will still be drafted non-volunteers.

Maybe the Korea Times thinks the 20 percent will be the North Korean units absorbed post-unification.