SEOUL, The defense ministry said Tuesday it is not considering conscripting women for the country’s mandatory military service after the issue received renewed attention in a campaign pledge ahead of the April general elections.

On Monday, the leader of the newly created Reformative Conservative Party, Lee Jun-seok, proposed having women serve in the military first if they want to apply for jobs as police officers or firefighter as a campaign pledge.

When asked about the possibility of female conscription, the ministry’s spokesperson Jeon Ha-kyou denied considering it.

“The issue needs to be carefully considered or decided upon as it requires social consensus,” he told a regular briefing.

Lee’s proposal came amid looming concerns the number of people who enlist could decline due to South Korea’s chronic low birth rate.

To address such concerns, the defense ministry has eased rules on the requirements of mandatory military service to include more overweight men.

In South Korea, all able-bodied men must
serve mandatory military service for at least 18 months, while women can volunteer for military duty as officers or noncommissioned officers.

The country’s troop numbers have dwindled in recent years, falling from about 600,000 in 2017 to around 480,000 in 2022, according to a report by a researcher at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.

Source: Yonhap News Agency