A lawmaker has proposed a bill to shorten the mandatory service period for public health doctors and military doctors from three years to two years.

Rep. Han Zee-a of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, proposed the “Amendment to the Military Service Act” and the “Amendment to the Military Personnel Act” on Tuesday.

The amendment to the Military Service Act would shorten the service period for public health doctors from three years to two years, while the amendment to the Military Personnel Act would shorten the service period for military doctors from three years to two years.

Currently, the mandatory service period for public health doctors and military doctors is three years, but including the military training period, it is 37 months and 38 months, respectively—more than twice as long as the service period for general soldiers (18 months). While the service period for general soldiers has been shortened and salaries increased through defense reform, the treatment of public health doctors and military doctors has not improved, leading to an equity controversy.

As a result, an increasing number of medical students are applying for active duty rather than serving as military doctors or public health doctors after obtaining a medical license.

According to Ministry of Health and Welfare data, the number of public health doctors has decreased by nearly half from 2,379 in 2014 to 1,209 in 2024. As of May 2023, 340 of the 1,217 health centers designated for public health doctor deployment—27.9 percent—had no public health doctors.

“Public health doctors and military doctors are valuable human resources who serve public healthcare and the country in the local and military healthcare systems, just like ordinary soldiers,” said Han. “As soon as possible, the service period and salary system should be improved to make them more equitable.”

“Addressing the structural problems that force medical students to shun choosing public health doctors and military doctors for practical reasons, and changing the laws and systems to make serving as a public health doctor and military doctor a more meaningful and proud choice will help make local healthcare systems more sustainable,” said Han.