[Focus] Restructuring the military

Defense Minister Cho Seong-Tae's declaration that a sweeping restructuring of the armed forces would be undertaken to cut 10 percent from its payroll has given the military the jitters.

The proposed personnel reduction was necessitated by a steady rise in the operation and maintenance expenses including salaries in contrast to diminishing outlays for military hardware in the total defense budget. It impedes Korea's effort to acquire sophisticated arms.

The military services are in general agreement with the main purpose of the plan, yet they are dissatisfied at Minister Cho's "mechanical and lump-sum instruction for downsizing" which is not based on concrete guidelines for balanced manpower streamlining of the various branches of the military. They decry the idea as administrative hype for demonstration effect.

As the members of the military became too unsettled, the Defense Ministry has begun to take great pains to keep the contents of programs for the contemplated restructuring from leaking out. At the same time, the ministry is putting the heat on the brass of the services as they attempt passive resistance on behalf of their rank and file.

Minister Cho asked the headquarters of the services to submit proposals for downsizing by the end of February, but the latter reportedly joined to request a delay until the end of June. The ministry proper, however, does not seem to budge; besides, it came up with a plan to cut back 20 percent of the higher echelons of the military, waging an apparent war of nerves. The Defense Ministry published in its in-house journal a paper dwelling upon the importance of reduced payroll.

The defense authorities are having difficulty finding relevant solutions in spite of their firm commitment to personnel retrenchment. Cutting back payroll costs of administrative and support units without affecting combat units would not lead to substantial economy but would be demoralizing. Its ultimate efficacy is in doubt.

Among the several ideas the Defense Ministry put forward for reducing personnel expenses are enforcement of mandatory leaves to cut down payment for unused annual leaves, lowering the retirement age for ranking officers by revising the Military Personnel Law, and degrading the ranks of major posts to be filled by ranking officers. A more drastic suggestion calls for withholding the promotion of some ranking officers for one year.

Military analysts take issue with what they call a half-baked attempt at saving a small amount of salary without effecting an extensive restructuring of the armed forces. Thus, the downsizing scheme of the Defense Ministry is still quite in the air.

Lee Chol-Hi klimt@donga.com