S. Korea to put more women soldiers in frontline

[unreal.livejournal.com]

South Korea's defence ministry said 6,957 women currently serve in the army, navy, air force and Marine corps

South Korea's military will put more women in the frontline as part of efforts to expand their opportunities in the armed forces, an official said Thursday.

Boo Jae-Won, head of the defence ministry's personnel planning bureau, said 12 combat branches will be opened up to female soldiers between 2012 and 2014.

"We will open up artillery and armour branches of the army to women," Boo was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying. The air force's air defence and the navy's fire control would also be opened.


The plan was to have women making up seven percent of all officers and five percent of non-commissioned officers by 2015 and 2017, respectively, he said.

As of the end of last year, about five percent of commissioned officers and three percent of NCOs were female.

The ministry said 6,957 women currently serve in the army, navy, air force and Marine corps but the total was expected to reach 11,500 by 2020.

All healthy South Korean men between 18-30 face conscription into the military for about two years. Women are exempt but can volunteer to serve as commissioned or non-commissioned officers.

In March the navy and air force announced plans to select female cadets for the Reserve Officer Training Corps programme. The army opened the corps to women last year for the first time since it started in 1963.

The main mission of the South's 650,000-strong armed forces is to deter any attack from North Korea's 1.2 million-strong military, but they also serve in United Nations peacekeeping missions.

Source: afp

Comments

[obeytheempress.livejournal.com]

This is really good news.