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Taiwanese alternative service personnel help a senior citizen after his treatment in Taichung. (Hankyoreh archives)
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Regulations would set annual cap of 600-700 alternative service members per year
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced on Aug. 22 that the government is considering setting the period of alternative service for conscientious objectors to compulsory military service at 1.5 to two times the length of regular military service, and restrict the number of conscientious objectors to between 600 and 700 per year. “This will prevent conscientious objection being used as a tool for evading military service, and ensure fairness between alternative service and other military duties. We are currently working on a proposal based on the principle that alternative service should not be punitive in nature,” stated an MND official at a press conference held at a ministerial building in Seoul’s Yongsan District. This is the first statement the MND has issued on the issue since the Constitutional Court declared on June 28 that the absence of alternative service was unconstitutional. The government plans to come up with a draft plan for alternative service by the end of August through a working group that includes representatives from the MND, Ministry of Justice and Military Manpower Administration, and finalize the plan for submission to the National Assembly by the end of September. “If the legislative process at the National Assembly is finished during the first half of next year, we may be able to implement the system from Jan. 1, 2020, after completing preparatory work in the latter half of 2019,” the ministry spokesperson added. 1.5 to two times the length of active duty service The MND announced that it is reviewing two possibilities for the length of alternative military service, with the first being twice the length (36 months) of active duty service, and the second being 1.5 times the length (27 months) of active duty service. Regarding the first option, the MND said that many people believed that “it’s a length that can discourage draft dodging as well as ensure that active duty conscripts do not feel unfairly treated.” They further explained that it would resolve any potential issues of fairness in comparison to specialized research personnel, public health doctors, and public-service advocates. France and Finland have alternative military service that is twice as long as active duty service. On the other hand, the second option of alternative military service that is 1.5 times the length of active duty service would meet international human rights standards, which considers “any term over 1.5 times the length of active duty service as punitive in nature,” explained a Defense Ministry official. The official said that, “There is already a precedent of the United Nations Human Rights Council having ruled that there are no reasonable grounds to France’s alternative military service length being set at twice that of active duty service.” Prior to this, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea had already recommended an alternative military service length that is 1.5 times that of active duty service. Taiwan, Greece, and Russia have alternative military service lengths that meet this standard. The Defense Ministry official said that “[The ministry] will gather feedback from various fields and decide on a service length that is between 1.5 and 2 times that of active duty service.” Annual cap of 600-700 applicants The MND is planning to limit annual alternative military service personnel admissions to 600-700 people. This is a safeguard to prevent alternative military service being abused as a method of draft dodging, as well as to secure a steady supply of military manpower. The Defense Ministry official said, “Even conversional service personnel such as conscripted policemen or firefighters are managed according to an annual quota.” The admission cap of 600-700 people per year was decided in view of the fact that an average of 500 people are annually referred to the courts for conscientious objection on grounds of religion or personal convictions. But if the number of applicants approved for alternative military service exceeds the given quota, it may cause holdups that could make it necessary for some to defer their service until the following year. In addition, the MND is planning to create an “alternative military service screening committee” (provisional name) that will adjudicate the eligibility of alternative military service applicants. The committee will comprise independent civilians, including religious representatives, psychology experts, doctors and legal experts; and despite being established under either the Prime Minister’s Office, The Ministry of Justice, or the Military Manpower Administration, the committee will maintain autonomy. Field of alternative service to be public service institutions The MND designated four types of public service institutions for alternative military service: fire stations, correctional institutions, national and public hospitals, and social welfare facilities. The Defense Ministry official said, “After canvassing these four types of institutions, we found that the firefighting and corrections spheres were generally receptive to accepting alternative military service personnel on account of manpower shortages, while hospitals and social welfare facilities exhibited a lot of pessimism due to concerns that alternative military service personnel lack qualifications and may try to proselytize patients.” On the other hand, assigning alternative military service personnel to non-combat military roles such as mine clearance, which Liberty Korea Party lawmaker Kim Hak-yong advocated in a controversial amendment proposal, has been ruled out. The Defense Ministry Official said, “In a survey, conscientious objectors requested ’not to be assigned with work that directly or indirectly supports military operations.’ Although the possibility of tasking them with mine clearance is being discussed, it will be difficult to place them in these roles without even assessing their qualifications.” The general rule will be live-in service, but commuting is expected to be inevitable in certain exceptional cases. The reason for this is that while fire stations and corrections facilities have housing facilities, some hospitals or social welfare facilities do not. The Defense Ministry Official said, “Providing housing facilities incurs a financial cost. Partially allowing commuting may be unavoidable.” “Regrettable, but also a step forward” Regarding the length of alternative military service, some have judged that it is “at a level that is up for debate.” Kim Hyung-nam, head of consultation and support at the Center for Military Human Rights Korea said, “Although the Military Manpower Administration argued for a term length of over twice as long [as active duty service], based on today’s announcement it looks likely that it will be set somewhere between 1.5 to 2 times as long,” adding that “it is at a level that is up for debate.” Others found the prioritization of the twice-as-long option to be regrettable. Lim Jae-sung, a lawyer with Minbyun (Lawyers for a Democratic Society), said “The grounds for the twice-as-long option are alternative military service programs in other countries like France or Finland, but compared to South Korea, both of these countries have shorter active duty service terms of 10 months and 6 months, respectively [. . .] Moreover, the fact that France’s alternative military service length is twice as long as active duty service was already ruled to be in violation of human rights in 1999.” In a press conference that same day, The MND announced that it was reviewing the possibility of setting alternative military service terms at twice the length of active duty service as the first option, and the possibility of 1.5 times the length of active duty service as the second option. On the issue of the annual eligibility cap, critics judged that “the cap being discussed is much too low.” However, Kim Hyung-nam said, “Since the number of conscripted policemen or firefighter is also fixed, I don’t see an inherent problem in capping alternative military service personnel [. . .] But it is more important to make sure that the quota isn’t rigid but rather adjustable according to the number of alternative military service applications.” The Defense Ministry’s announcement that it was considering incorporating the “alternative military service screening committee” under the Prime Minister’s Office or the Ministry of Justice was welcomed as a form of progress. Lim Jae-sung said “The fact that the Ministry of Defense announced it may place the screening committee in the purview of the Prime Minister’s Office or the Ministry of Justice is an important step forward…Leaving the screening process to the military could cause them to be overly conservative in their evaluation of alternative military service applicants. More than anything, it is important to ensure that screening can be carried out fairly, from outside.” By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer, and Lim Jae-woo, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
