"Mandatory Service for Military and Public Health Doctors to Be Reduced from 3 Years to 2 Years" ... Another Bill Proposed

Hwang Hee Proposes Amendments to the Military Personnel Act and Military Service Act
Aiming to Stabilize the Military Medical System by Enhancing Equity in Military Service

Another bill has been proposed to reduce the mandatory service period for military doctors and public health doctors from the current 3 years to 2 years, aiming to increase the support rate for military medical officers and public health doctors, and to address medical gaps in rural and fishing communities as well as within the military.

On April 6, Hwang Hee, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea (representing Seoul Yangcheon Gap), sponsored revisions to the Military Personnel Act and the Military Service Act. The purpose of these bills is to improve unreasonable service conditions experienced by specialist medical professionals such as doctors, dentists, and Korean medicine doctors when serving as officers or supplementary service personnel, and to ensure public access to healthcare.

The two proposed amendments focus on reducing the mandatory service period for military doctors and public health doctors from the current 3 years to 2 years, and counting the military training received prior to appointment as part of the service period. Those who pass the national exams for doctor, dentist, Korean medicine doctor, veterinarian, or pharmacist and are appointed as military officers will also see their mandatory service period reduced to 2 years, with pre-appointment training at educational institutions included in the service period.

This measure is intended to narrow the gap with the general active-duty soldier service period, which has been reduced to 18 months (for the Army) since 2020, and to prevent the growing trend of medical personnel choosing to enlist as regular soldiers to avoid the burden of longer service.

Assemblyman Hwang commented, "The efficient allocation of the nation’s quarantine resources is essential for national security and public welfare," adding, "These two amendments will serve as a necessary legal foundation to prevent the outflow of medical personnel caused by the service period gap with regular soldiers and to strengthen the medical safety net for the military and local communities."

Previously, lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties on the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee also introduced bills to shorten the service period for public health doctors and military doctors. In May of last year, Han Jia, a member of the People Power Party, proposed amendments to the Military Service Act and Military Personnel Act to reduce the mandatory service period for public health doctors and military doctors from 3 years to 2 years.

In January of this year, Seo Youngseok, a Democratic Party lawmaker, submitted amendments to the Medical Services Act for Rural Communities and the Military Service Act, which would shorten the public health doctor service period to 2 years and introduce a "specialized public health official" system.

According to a survey conducted last year by the Korean Association of Public Health Doctors, 97.9% of the 1,553 medical student respondents cited the "longer service period compared to enlisted soldiers" as the reason for not wishing to become a military doctor or public health doctor. Furthermore, the willingness to apply increased significantly as the service period decreased: 19.4% if reduced to 30 months, 62.9% if reduced to 26 months, and 94.7% if reduced to 24 months.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.