Bill seeks to open South Korean barracks to female soldiers as troop numbers shrink
A South Korean lawmaker has proposed a legislative bill that would allow women to enlist as rank-and-file soldiers, as the country faces a growing shortage of military personnel due to persistently low birth rates.
Rep. Kim Mi-ae of the People Power Party, who drafted and submitted the bill to the National Assembly on Tuesday, said opening barracks to women is essential to protecting national security.
North Korea is estimated to have around 1 million active-duty troops. Latest figures show South Korea's active-duty force has shrunk to 450,000 as of July 2025.
Current law technically permits women to volunteer, but in practice, they are only recruited as officers or non-commissioned officers. Rep. Kim's bill would require military authorities to accept applicants regardless of gender and to report annually to parliament on the experiences and challenges of female soldiers.
The opposition lawmaker pointed to demographic projections that the number of male conscript candidates could fall to just 100,000 per year within two decades. She said in a statement that 'a drastic measure is needed to ensure national security' and emphasized the need to widen opportunities for voluntary female service so the armed forces can draw from the broadest pool of talent.
The scale of the problem is already visible. Data obtained by Rep. Choo Mi-ae's office from the Defense Ministry and the Military Manpower Administration shows that South Korea's active-duty force has shrunk from 560,000 in 2019 to 450,000 in July this year.
The threshold of 500,000 troops, often described as the minimum needed under the armistice with North Korea, was breached two years ago, and troop strength is now about 50,000 below that mark.
The army has absorbed the steepest decline, dropping from 300,000 enlisted soldiers to 200,000 in six years. The South Korean government has already loosened health and fitness standards to expand eligibility, lifting the acceptance rate for active-duty service from 69.8 percent in 2019 to 86.7 percent this year.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Korea Herald
7 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Bill seeks to open S. Korean barracks to female enlisted soldiers as troop numbers shrink
By 2045, S. Korea's pool of eligible male conscripts could shrink to just 100,000 per year, lawmaker warns, underscoring the need to tap female service A South Korean lawmaker has proposed a new legislative bill that would require the military to begin accepting women as rank-and-file soldiers, as the country faces a growing shortage of military personnel due to persistently low birth rates. Rep. Kim Mi-ae of the People Power Party, who drafted and submitted the bill to the National Assembly on Tuesday, said opening barracks to women is essential to protecting national security. North Korea is estimated to have around 1 million active-duty troops. Latest figures show South Korea's active-duty force has shrunk to 450,000 as of July 2025. Current law technically permits women to volunteer, but in practice, they are only recruited as officers or non-commissioned officers. Rep. Kim's bill would require military authorities to accept applicants regardless of gender and to report annually to parliament on the experiences and challenges of female soldiers. The opposition lawmaker pointed to demographic projections that the number of male conscript candidates could fall to just 100,000 per year within two decades. She said in a statement that 'a drastic measure is needed to ensure national security' and emphasized the need to widen opportunities for voluntary female service so the armed forces can draw from the broadest pool of talent. The scale of the problem is already visible. Data obtained by Rep. Choo Mi-ae's office from the Defense Ministry and the Military Manpower Administration shows that South Korea's active-duty force has shrunk from 560,000 in 2019 to 450,000 in July this year. The threshold of 500,000 troops, often described as the minimum needed under the armistice with North Korea, was breached two years ago, and troop strength is now about 50,000 below that mark. The army has absorbed the steepest decline, dropping from 300,000 enlisted soldiers to 200,000 in six years. The South Korean government has already loosened health and fitness standards to expand eligibility, lifting the acceptance rate for active-duty service from 69.8 percent in 2019 to 86.7 percent this year.
Korea Herald
7 hours ago
- Korea Herald
US senator says Congress to review shipbuilding reforms after Lee-Trump summit
A US senator said Wednesday that Congress will review what legislative reforms may be needed to facilitate shipbuilding cooperation with South Korea, based on the outcome of next week's summit between President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump. Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) made the remarks during a press availability in Seoul, days before Lee and Trump are set to hold their first summit in Washington on Monday (US time), following a recent tariff agreement between the two countries. "There might be some reforms that can make it more efficient, speed the process, and we'll look at that appropriately," Kim said when asked about US shipbuilding regulations prohibiting foreign involvement. "I cannot move forward until I have a sense of what comes out from the summit next week. So we'll see how that's structured and how the investment is laid out, and then we'll move with the appropriate level of urgency," he said. With the tariff deal, South Korea has proposed large-scale shipbuilding cooperation projects, dubbed "Make American Shipbuilding Great Again (MASGA)," to held restore the sluggish US shipbuilding industry, including building new shipyards in the United States and partnerships on maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) projects. However, concerns have been raised about how quickly the shipbuilding projects can move forward, as US laws, such as the Jones Act and the Byrnes-Tollefson Amendment, remain as a legal barrier restricting foreign operations in commercial shipping and military shipbuilding. "If there are proposals needed for reforms that make sense to both of our countries, I think it could move fast," Kim said. Kim also addressed the need for the US to be clear about its goals in shipbuilding cooperation with South Korea, such as the number and type of ships it needs to build, saying that any legislative support would start from there. As a New Jersey resident who lives about 15 minutes away from the Philly Shipyard, run by South Korea's Hanwha Ocean, Kim described South Korea as the "best partner" in boosting American shipbuilding capabilities. "We are supportive of President Trump's efforts to continue to increase shipbuilding capabilities, and we're prepared to provide whatever type of legislation as well as resources behind it to be able to make that successful," he said. Regarding the Trump administration's push for "modernizing the alliance," which potentially calls for reorienting the role of US troops in Korea to deter China, Kim said related bilateral discussions should take place in a way that ensures US commitment to deterring North Korean threats, as well as addressing shared regional challenges. "I want to make sure that ... in the Indo-Pacific, (we) are able to address the array of different challenges and threats that we face. We can do that in a way that still protects extended deterrence, protects our interests here on the Korean Peninsula," Kim said. "Any changes that we would see in significant ways to troop presence, we would want to make sure that Congress has a role in oversight," he added. Kim, the first Korean American elected to the Senate, visited South Korea this week with Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Il) for meetings with government officials and business leaders. They also met with President Lee. Kim said Lee's decision to stop in Japan before going to Washington for the summit with Trump was a "brilliant move." "I can think of few opportunities that are more impactful than recommitment to the trilateral process between the United States, South Korea and Japan," he said. (Yonhap)
Korea Herald
8 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Court orders foreign ministry to drop lawsuit against MBC over Yoon's hot mic
A court on Wednesday ordered the foreign ministry to drop a lawsuit against broadcaster MBC over former President Yoon Suk Yeol's controversial remarks caught on a hot mic during his visit to the United States in 2022. Under the compulsory mediation, or "decision in lieu of conciliation," the Seoul High Court ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to withdraw the lawsuit and instructed MBC to consent to the decision. Under South Korean law, a compulsory mediation can be ordered by a court when no settlement is reached during a mediation process in a civil lawsuit. It becomes final if neither party files an objection within two weeks. The former president's remarks, which experts say are difficult to discern due to background noise, were subtitled by MBC to make it sound like the president used vulgar language when mentioning then US President Joe Biden. Yoon's office later argued there was no mention of Biden and claimed the word he used was in reference to the South Korean National Assembly. "Considering the nature of the remarks, the freedom of the press and expression along with the social costs and side effects of the dispute, it is desirable that the issue be settled amicably by withdrawing the lawsuit," the court said in a statement. The court added the evidence provided by the foreign ministry was not sufficient to prove the news report was false. In January 2024, a lower court ordered broadcaster MBC to correct its report, with the broadcaster challenging the decision. (Yonhap)
