Home > Events > 군가산점제도의 쟁점과 대안 - Discharged Soldiers' Preference in Korea: Issues and Alternatives

군가산점제도의 쟁점과 대안 - Discharged Soldiers' Preference in Korea: Issues and Alternatives

By JungRan Kim, Korean Chongshindae Institute / CKS Post Doc and Visiting Scholars Colloquium Series

Tuesday, February 22, 2011
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
11377 Bunche Hall
UCLA
Los Angeles, CA 

Recently, the Korean Ministry of National Defense announced that they would push ahead with the reintroduction of the Discharged Soldiers’ Preference (DSP). This move is arousing a controversy again. This lecture will examine the issues and alternatives regarding the DSP.

Since the Constitutional Court ruled the DSP unconstitutional in 1999, the practice that had given great advantage to discharged soldiers who were seeking governmental employment had to be discontinued. The reason it was ruled unconstitutional was that the DSP infringed on equal opportunity of women and the disabled. Under a universal conscription system, most of Korean men have military duty while women and the disabled do not; that is to say, the latter are excluded from the DSP.

The key questions pertinent to this issue are as follows: Is giving additional points to some ex-soldiers an effective way to reward them? Are there any urgent necessities requiring the reintroduction of this discriminatory policy which was proved inappropriate 10 years ago? Is it justifiable to give advantage to a select group of people at the sacrifice of others? What are just and legitimate measures to reward the soldiers who fulfilled their military duty?

JungRan Kim received a degree in women's studies from Ewha Women's University in Korea and has worked for the Korean National Assembly Research Service.

Cost: Free

Special Instructions

Lecture will be in Korean. This event is free and open to the public.

For more information please contact

Sejung Kim
koreanstudies@international.ucla.edu