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By Jun Ji-hye
The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of National Defense have come into conflict over the latter's move to reduce the number of military duty exemptions for science and engineering majors by half.
While all able-bodied South Korean men must serve in the military for about two years as the two Koreas remain technically at war, those with master's degrees or doctorates in natural sciences or engineering have been allowed to spend their military service working at R&D departments of state-designated research institutes.
The defense ministry is claiming that downsizing such special exemptions, which were introduced in 1973, is necessary to make up for the expected shortage in the number of active-duty personnel amid a constantly declining population.
But the science ministry as well as universities, research institutes and students are arguing that the exemptions have effectively contributed to the development of the nation's R&D sector and thus must be retained.
The defense ministry had pushed to repeal the special exemptions for science and engineering majors in 2016, but failed due to backlash from the science ministry, universities and students at the time.
Alternatively, the defense ministry is now proposing reducing the size of the special exemptions as it estimates that the number of active-duty personnel will fall below 250,000 in 2032 from the current 320,000.
"It is an inevitable measure to downsize special exemptions as military service resources will decrease rapidly after 2030," Lee In-goo, who is in charge of manpower policy at the defense ministry, said during an open forum held at the National Assembly, Tuesday.
In response, Huh Jae-yong, who is in charge of nurturing talent at the science ministry, said reducing the scale of military duty exemptions for science and engineering majors will only weak the competitive power of the nation.
"We need to deal with the issue from a long-term point of view rather than simply reducing the number of men who get special exemptions," he said.
He added his ministry will make an effort to improve the system so science and engineering majors can be better utilized in the defense and public sectors.
Rep. Noh Woong-rae of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea who chairs the Assembly's science, ICT, broadcasting and communications committee, sided with the science sector, saying technological prowess will strengthen national defense.
Kim Dae-sik, a professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), raised concerns that fewer men would study in the science and engineering departments and that more promising students would go abroad instead of staying in the country if the military duty exemption is downsized or repealed.
