More active-duty soldiers than public health doctors; most medical students enlisted in April - South Korea

In South Korea, a total of 647 medical students enlisted as active duty soldiers or community service personnel in the month of April this year.
The Korean Public Health Physicians Association (hereinafter referred to as the Public Health Physicians Association) made a request for disclosure of information on the 10th.
According to the Korea Medical Association, of the 647 medical students who enlisted in April, 589 were active duty and 58 were community service personnel.
This is a 57% increase from the 412 medical students who enlisted as active duty soldiers in March, and the highest monthly number ever. The Association of Medical Information and Public Relations stated, "The acceleration of enlistment of medical students (as active duty soldiers) is remarkable.
"We expect that about 5,700 medical students will enlist as active duty soldiers," he said. While the service period for public health doctors is 37 months, the active duty soldier is only 18 months, and recently, many people have been choosing to enlist as active duty soldiers.
The Public Health Association has argued that the length of service for public health physicians should be shortened to 24 months to reflect this reality.
Lee Seong-hwan, president of the Public Relations Doctors Association, said, "We positively evaluate the bill proposed in the National Assembly and the move by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to shorten military service."
They also said, "In order to change the minds of medical students who did not immediately apply for military service, we need to introduce a bill quickly and make changes in the Ministry of Defense."