In South Korea, reserve forces participate in a three-day mobilization training exercise each year to prepare for any emergency situations. (image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Mar. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s reserve forces will be paid 91,000 won (US$80) for each inactive duty training session, starting in 2022.
The South Korean Army announced on Monday that it plans to gradually raise the payments for the reserve forces.
Currently at 32,000 won, the payments for mobilization training will be raised to 91,000 won by 2022. Training compensation for local reserves, currently at 13,000 won, will be raised to 31,000 won by the same year.
By 2033, reserves doing mobilization training will be paid as much as 210,000 won, and 60,000 won for local reserve training.
In the United States, reserve personnel receive 310,000 won per training session.
In South Korea, reserve forces participate in a three-day mobilization training exercise each year to prepare for any emergency situations.
“We need to better compensate all of our reserve forces for diligently carrying out their military duties,” said the South Korean Army.
“Complaints are particularly severe among local reserve trainees who have to use their own money to participate in the training due to the extremely low compensation.”
The army also announced its plans to introduce new equipment for the reserve forces.
More than 80 percent of all military equipment that is more than 30 years old will be replaced with new equipment. Maintenance depots and storage facilities will also be built.
“We plan to establish a new reserve training unit that specializes in reserve training,” said the South Korean Army.
“We will also open up new training grounds for reserve forces that will be made accessible to local residents when there are no military drills.”
There are currently five training grounds available for reserve forces. The South Korean Army plans to invest 990 billion won (US$879 million) to develop as many as 35 training facilities by 2024.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
