By Kim Rahn
More than seven of 10 women agree with the revival of granting incentives to men who apply for public sector jobs after finishing their military service, a survey showed Thursday, reigniting gender conflict over one of the nation’s most sensitive issues.
The Ministry of National Defense said its survey showed 79.4 percent of adults were for the re-adoption of the incentive system — 84.6 percent of men and 74.2 percent of women. Some 9.4 percent of men and 17.1 percent of women disagreed with the plan, the ministry said after surveying 508 men and 515 women aged 19 and over in April.
However, the survey caused an uproar from women’s rights groups which question the credibility of the survey.
A senior official of the Korean Women’s Association United said the defense ministry promotes the incentive system because it can make it seem like its granting big favors without spending anything, while a very small number of discharged soldiers will benefit in reality.
“The nation needs more effective measures, such as providing subsidies or reducing interest on student loans for those who return or advance to college,” she said.
The disclosure of the survey results came as a bill for the reinstatement of the system is currently pending at a judiciary committee of the National Assembly. The plan is aimed to give additional points to reservists when they apply for jobs in public service. It was scrapped in 1999 after the Constitutional Court ruled it unconstitutional as it discriminates against women and the disabled.
Supporters claim it is needed to provide discharged soldiers compensation for their mandatory military service and to give a sense of pride for having fulfilled their national duty. In contrast, opponents insist it is discriminatory against women, the disabled and men who can’t serve in the military and that other types of compensations should be sought.
Nearly 60 percent of the respondents said the state doesn’t provide enough compensation or support to servicemen forn the disadvantages they suffer, such as the forcible suspension of studies and financial losses from late entry into the job market.
Citing such “popular public opinion,” the ministry has been moving to revive the system.
In 1999, the Constitutional Court said adding 3 to 5 percentage points to men’s original scores in exams for public service was “excessive.” The revision bill seeks to give 2.5 percentage points and limit the number of people passing with the incentives to 20 percent of the total recruitment.
Few to benefit
Opponents say the revision still carries discriminatory aspects and the incentives would benefit only a very small minority.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said it agrees with the idea of state support for those serving the nation at the peak of their youth, but argued that the incentive system is not the answer.
“It is not a matter of how many extra points they earn. It was already ruled unconstitutional because it is discriminative against women, the disabled and men who cannot serve in the military for various reasons,” ministry spokesman Kwon Yong-hyun said.
He also pointed out that the incentives only benefit those seeking public posts, not to most people seeking jobs at private firms.
“Every year, 300,000 men are discharged from military service. Among them, only 0.03 percent can benefit from the incentive system for public posts. The nation should adopt other systems that can benefit all men who served in the military,” Kwon said.
