5-year discharge restriction regulations for consignment training... Prevent early outflow of professional manpower

5-year discharge restriction regulations for consignment training... Prevent early outflow of professional manpower

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Mi-ryeong = The court ruled that the military authorities were justified in restricting the discharge of a long-serving officer who applied for early discharge after 5 years despite receiving foreign language (Arabic) training at university.

According to the legal community on the 27th, the 1st Administrative Division of the Seoul Administrative Court (Chief Judge Yang Sang-yoon) recently ruled that the plaintiff lost in a lawsuit filed by long-term Army officer A against the Minister of National Defense, asking "to cancel the discharge restriction."

Mr. A was commissioned as an army officer (second lieutenant) in 2018 and was appointed as a long-term serving officer in April 2020. He served as a company commander of a battalion in the Army in 2024 and applied for discharge for 5 years of long-term service, setting May 2025 as his desired discharge date.

The mandatory service period for long-term serving officers is 10 years, but they can apply for discharge once in the 5th year of their appointment.

However, the Army Headquarters Discharge Review Committee said that Mr. A was a person who completed more than two years of consignment training and recommended a 5-year discharge restriction to the Ministry of National Defense considering his future utilization. The Ministry of National Defense Personnel Committee acknowledged the shortage of manpower in the relevant branch and judged that the Army Discharge Review Committee decision was reasonable, so it finally approved the 5-year discharge restriction.

Accordingly, Mr. A filed an administrative lawsuit against the discharge restriction, but the court did not accept it.

The court cited the Military Personnel Management Act, which stipulated that 'a person who has received consignment training as a soldier will have a certain period added to the mandatory service period' and the old Defense Personnel Management Directive, which stipulated that 'in consideration of the current status of military personnel management, the discharge of long-term serving officers in their fifth year of service may be restricted for those who have completed consignment training for more than two years.'

The court explained, "The purpose of these regulations is to secure a period in which the knowledge and capabilities of long-serving officers, who are skilled and high-quality personnel, can be fully utilized within the military, and to prevent the early outflow of professional manpower trained with the national budget."

After being appointed as a long-term serving officer, Mr. A received consignment training at the Arabic language department of a domestic university and received specialization in the military department related to his abilities.

The court explained, “The discharge review committee decided to limit early discharge considering that Mr. A’s Arabic skills could be used for special purposes by the military in the future,” adding, “This is recognized as justified as it is in accordance with the Military Justice Act.”

In addition, Mr. A applied for the consignment training course on his own, accepting the extension of mandatory service period and restrictions on early discharge according to regulations, and explained that 're-employment (change of career path)', which he cited as the main reason for applying for early discharge, is possible even after complying with the mandatory service period.

At the same time, he added, "It appears that other reasons, such as difficulties encountered while serving in a branch unrelated to one's major, can be resolved by accumulating practical experience and utilizing the military's internal personnel system."