Vice Minister of Defense Ko Chen-heng (柯承亨) said yesterday that the Ministry of National Defense was still planning to cut the compulsory military service period to one year by the end of 2008, but added that this will be based on the premise that the volunteer recruitment goal can be achieved.
Ko made the remarks while reporting to a Legislative committee on the situation surrounding recruiting volunteer military servicemen, as well as the plan to adjust the length of compulsory military service.
He noted that President Chen Shui-bian (
He also said that the ministry would make a final assessment by the end of next year on the exact timing of the changes.
The ministry had planned to recruit 6,561 servicemen last year, but actually accepted 6,644. It had planned to recruit a further 13,500 this year and had so far accepted 8,164.
Ko was responding to questions from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方), who asked about media reports which said that compulsory military service would be shortened to 14 months from the present 16 months next year and be further cut to one year by 2008.
Lin said that the ministry should keep the public abreast of the situation so that future draftees can adjust their career plans accordingly.
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