An Analysis of the Civilianization of the Ministry of National Defense in the Republic of Korea in Support of Defense Reform 2020

Abstract : The purpose of this study is to investigate the feasibility of the "civilianization plan" of the Ministry of National Defense (MND) in the Republic of Korea (ROK). The MND has developed a plan to modernize its military and to operate it more efficiently and effectively. The MND has enacted the plan to increase the ratio of civilian personnel to military personnel inside its Headquarters by 2009. Unfortunately, the environment inside and outside the organization is not mature enough to enact this plan so quickly. In addition, there are widely differing points of view regarding the plan between military members and civilian personnel. Defense ministries in other countries, especially the United States, have well-developed systems to recruit and educate civilian experts. In doing so, they have attained a high level of civilian defense experts while minimizing potential problems. Many people in the South Korean MND worry about this plan because there are not enough organizations and systems available to educate and train a large number of civilian defense experts. Although direct comparisons of workforce capabilities between military members and civilian personnel are limited, there appear to be both advantages and disadvantages to increasing the number of civilian employees in the MND. Therefore, it is necessary to change the modernization plan to a long-term one with more carefully considered procedures.