A New System of Selecting Ph.D. Holders as Officers to be Introduced

The government has decided to introduce a system that selects Ph.D. holders in science and technology as officers in order to secure talented R&D manpower for the military. The proportion of R&D in the national defense expenses will increase by 10 percent before 2015, which is two times larger than the present.

The government held the third ministerial meeting on science and technology on Thursday under the supervision of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and Technology Oh Myung at Lotte Hotel in Seoul, and decided to implement the new system.

The deputy prime minister proposed at the meeting that the Ministry of National Defense (MND) introduce the new system as soon as possible, and Minister Yoon Kwang-ung of the MND agreed to apply the system progressively.

The new system will allow Ph.D. holders in science and technology to continue their studies in research centers, including the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), as a commissioned officer, instead of serving as a private soldier. They will be allowed to continue working for the centers after being discharged.

Currently, people holding a master or doctorate degree in science and technology can substitute their military service for working at a national or public research institution, or an affiliated R&D center of a corporation for three years. The new system, however, will only be applied to Ph.D. holders who will work on military related R&D projects.

Chang-Won Kim changkim@donga.com