We’re sending women to the army when the birth rate is at its lowest? Let’s reenlist men in their 50s"…‘Senior Army’ gets mixed https://www.mk.co.kr/news/politics/10935147

  • Lee Joon-seok, leader of the Reform Party, makes ‘women in the military’ a general election pledge
  • “Public work and national defense are two completely different things”

The so-called “senior army,” a proposal to reenlist men in their 50s and 70s who have already retired from the military to solve the problem of a declining birthrate, has sparked controversy.
Lee Joon-seok, the leader of the Reform Party, which has previously advocated for women’s military service, said that the senior army is “opposition for opposition’s sake,” and that “we should just accept the female conscription system.”

  1. “5070 Seniors looking to enlist should take advantage”

Last month, Choi Young-jin, a professor of political science and international studies at Chung-Ang University, criticized the pledge of women to serve in the military in an op-ed in a media outlet, saying, “It is not a policy that should be considered by a country that must make every effort to increase its fertility rate.” He advocated for the creation of a Senior Army.
Dr. Choi is currently the co-chair of Senior Army. The organization was launched in June last year with a founding meeting, and its members underwent enlistment training at the Seocho Reserve Military Training Center in Seoul last November.
Choi
“Women’s military service is not a rational alternative to solve the manpower shortage,” says Choi. "We will have to spend dozens of times the budget to secure the resources of 10,000 to 20,000 troops.
dozens of times more money. “We would have to spend dozens of times more money to get 20,000 troops,” said Dr. Choi. "Using gender equality as an excuse to argue that women should join the military is a very narrow view of the world.
pointed out.
Choi suggests utilizing healthy seniors who are willing to volunteer as a solution to the recruitment shortage.
“There are currently about 6.91 million men between the ages of 55 and 75, many of whom are ready to pick up a gun for their country once again,” he said. “If only 1% of the 6.91 million volunteer, we can have a reserve force of about 70,000.”

  1. “Public works purposes and defense are two different things”

The call for a “senior army” is closely related to the general election pledge announced by Lee Joon-seok, the leader of the Reform Party, at a press conference at the National Assembly on March 29.
At the time, Lee said he would push for a plan to require women to serve in the military as early as 2030 before they can apply for public service positions such as police and firefighting.
Lee
“It’s not about getting one or two more questions right on the test, but about having the sincerity and integrity to serve the country for a year or two,” Lee said.
“If there is a female conscription or maternity exemption, it is an Israeli-style military service system, but we are not close to it,” he said.
"If there is a female conscription or maternity exemption, it is the Israeli military service system, and we are not close to it.
On the issue of women serving in the military, Senior Army has been mentioned as an alternative.
“The Reformed Party’s opposition to women’s conscription is now bringing up the ‘Senior Army,’” he wrote on Facebook on Jan. 1.
“The purpose of public service and national defense are completely different stories,” she pointed out.
He added, “I hope they don’t make things harder with this alternative when they could just accept the women’s conscription system.”

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