Strengthening Financial Education for Military Personnel... Visiting Capital Market Education Programs to Begin in Second Half of Year

Deliberation and Approval of the "Plan to Strengthen Financial Education for Military Personnel" at the 2nd Financial Education Council

Expansion of One-on-One Customized Counseling and Financial Education Content Production

Increased Rewards for Winners of the Financial Education Quiz Competition

The financial authorities will strengthen financial education for military personnel by encouraging the production of related content and expanding one-on-one customized counseling services.

On August 31, the Financial Services Commission announced that it had convened the 2nd Financial Education Council of 2026 and deliberated and resolved the "Plan to Strengthen Financial Education for Military Personnel."

This plan was jointly developed by relevant agencies, including the Financial Services Commission, the Ministry of National Defense, and the Financial Supervisory Service, to reflect on-site educational conditions and military personnel's financial needs. The Ministry of National Defense newly joined the pan-government financial education policy council in April 2026, which served as the catalyst for this initiative.

The background for this plan is that, although the financial assets managed and operated directly by young service members continue to increase during their military service—driven by higher wages and expanded asset-building support such as the Service Members' Youth Savings and Youth Future Savings—financial risks such as online gambling and high-interest loans are also on the rise.

First, the authorities will continuously produce and distribute short-form and entertainment-style content that reflects both consumption patterns and interests of young service members. In particular, content like "Military Tech: Defense Bank Headquarters" on KFN TV—which received a strong response from military personnel last year—will be co-produced by the Armed Forces Media Agency and the Korea Financial Investment Association. Experts will diagnose and offer solutions to real financial concerns of soldiers. The goal is to create an educational environment where service members proactively seek out and participate in financial education, going beyond mandatory courses.

To help military personnel resolve actual financial issues, one-on-one customized counseling will be expanded with the participation of the Financial Supervisory Service, Korea Inclusive Finance Agency, Credit Counseling & Recovery Service, and the financial sector. Dedicated online and offline financial counseling channels specifically for military personnel will be operated to provide personalized guidance on salary and expenditure management, savings planning, and lump-sum asset management. For those in need of credit and debt management, online assessments will be connected to telephone consultations for further guidance. Additionally, issues that are difficult to discuss openly, such as debt problems, can be conveniently addressed via a private one-on-one Q&A board exclusively for military service members within the Credit Counseling & Recovery Service.

Measures are also being pursued to provide certificates, commendations, and rewards to winners of the financial education quiz competition and to participants who actively engage in the education programs. Furthermore, visiting capital market education programs with the participation of the financial investment industry will be fully launched from the second half of this year. In the future, the Ministry of National Defense will continue to cooperate to increase the number of participating military units and expand educational offerings. Customized videos and offline standard textbooks covering topics such as prevention of illegal gambling, investment product precautions, and credit management methods will be produced and continuously updated to reflect the evolving financial environment and emerging cases.

Current and former employees of financial companies, analysts, and private bankers (PB) who are financial industry specialists will be recruited as instructors for military financial education programs. They will deliver practical instruction on basic asset management, financial investment, and credit and debt management. To this end, the financial associations will establish a collaborative framework and develop a variety of industry-specific educational programs within this year, to be fully implemented starting next year.

The Ministry of National Defense will identify units with educational needs and connect them to the appropriate financial associations for smooth program implementation. In the fourth quarter, an integrated workshop will be held for financial officers of directly affiliated units, and program outcomes will be analyzed to consider regularizing joint training with financial associations. Financial education guidelines—such as prohibiting promotion of in-house products to ensure that educational and counseling activities do not lead to business activities like product sales—will be developed and applied.

Additionally, to enhance the expertise of financial officers responsible for financial education within the military, the number of trainees for financial training will gradually be increased, and regular online refresher training will be provided to military financial education instructors who have completed the training program.

Relevant agencies and financial education institutions will immediately implement the approved tasks and, according to detailed implementation plans for each task, sequentially carry out measures such as creating financial education content for military personnel, expanding one-on-one counseling, and operating financial sector participation programs.

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