The Republic of Korea main tains a strict conscription regi me.
Registration for conscrip tion is automatic for men in the year
they turn 18, followed by medical examination when they are 19. The
duty to enlist in the Armed Forces lasts until the age of 31, but
in case of draft evaders until 36.
Military service
lasts two years. How ever, large parts of conscripts (almost
200_000 out of 300000-350000 conscripts annually) per form most of
their service in public administra tions or else where, and only
per form four weeks of basic mi li tary training.
For those, milit ary service lasts 26 months. Which kind of service
has to be performed depends on the me di cal examination, and the
needs of the military.
After discharge from servi ce, con scripts are obliged to serve
appro xi mately 160 hours of military training over a period of
eight years.
Of a total of 680000 sol diers in the Korean military, about 75%
are con scripts. Commissioned and non-commis sioned officers are
pro fessional soldiers and account for the re maining 25%. Accor
ding to the "Defence Re form Plan 2020", South Korea aims to
increase the number of pro fessional soldiers to 40% by 2020.
Conscientious objection is not recognised, and annually about 600
conscientious objec tors receive prison sentences of 18 months. The
great majo rity of conscientious objectors are Jehovah's Witnesses,
but since 2001 the number of non-religios conscientious objectors
has increased.
Since 1939, more than 15000 conscientious objectors
served prison sentences for their refusal to perform military
service.
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