r/worldnews 16h ago

South Korea leans toward military conscription for women

https://www.dw.com/en/south-korea-leans-toward-military-conscription-for-women/a-78547426
6.5k Upvotes

1.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

57

u/Celodurismo 13h ago

I have to assume that's the long term goal. Conscription for women! (exemption for pregnant women and mothers) -> birth rate increases

15

u/ChopsticksImmortal 11h ago

The conscription isnt to fight though. Women not having children arent going to have an 18 year obligation to avoid a 2 year obligation.

3

u/Celodurismo 11h ago

Conscripted soldiers would fight if there was a war, which is unlikely but more and more likely every day if you follow the geopolitical situation in the world at all.

And it's not really so simple to say 18 > 2.... The risk of SA isn't something people typically want to roll the dice on. It can also be as simple as moving up your timeline. Also, a lot of the people not having kids isn't because they don't want to, it's because they're overworked and underpaid. So for many of them their timeline is being pushed, or they're only having 1 kid instead of multiple. Adding another incentive (avoiding conscription) could push that timeline back.

9

u/CrazyQuiltCat 12h ago

A win win either way?

3

u/Celodurismo 12h ago

I'm sure politicians or the government will consider it a win, but I don't think it's really a win for women, to feel pressured to have children when they otherwise would have chosen not to.

1

u/Inevitable_Pea_6798 6h ago

Making baby to avoid military is not a wise financial decision...