South Korean men serving or preparing to serve their mandatory military enlistment may have their length of service reduced.
On July 27th, the country’s Ministry of National Defense revealed plans for military reform, which includes the shortening of mandatory service.
According to the announcement, the service period may be reduced to 18 months (1 year, 6 months) for the army and 20 months (1 year, 8 months) for the navy. Overall, each branch will have roughly three months removed from their usual term of service.
To make the ministry’s plans more comprehensive, the South Korean government’s Military Manpower Administration released a chart indicating the amount of days that will be taken off by enlistment period.
This is big news to fans of Korean entertainment, as it means that celebrities that are currently serving or may serve in the future will be spending less time away from promotions. For example, if the plan is approved by president Moon Jae In, BIGBANG‘s Taeyang, who enlisted on March 12th, 2018, will be discharged a whole month earlier.
Meanwhile, the move is just one measure the Ministry of Defense plans to take in reforming the military over the next few years. Another prominent plan is to reduce the total number of active forces to 500,000 by 2022, a major slash from the country’s current 618,000.
Dani (danidee) is a writer for WTK from Southern California, who currently lives in Seoul’s Hongdae district. She is a huge fan of graphic novels, Asian films, and Korean hip-hop. Most of the week, she can be found practicing her Korean, marathoning “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” or trying to sample tiramisu from as many cute cafes as possible.