Navy pushes to allow women to serve on submarine

The Navy said Wednesday it is pushing to bring female officers on the nation's next-generation submarine as part of efforts to give equal opportunity for a growing number of female servicemembers.

"We are planning to allow female officers to serve on the next-generation 3,000-ton submarine set to be put into operation in around 2020," said a Navy lieutenant commander, asking for anonymity. "We are to select new talent starting 2017 and train them to serve duty."

The submarine now under construction will have the facilities necessary to accommodate the female crew, the lieutenant commander noted.

The envisioned plan would make South Korea the world's 10th country to implement such an integration plan, according to the Navy. Currently, female officers serve for operating surface vessels including Aegis destroyers, frigates and guided-missile patrol gun boats.

"It is very encouraging that female officers would join the task of running submarines, which will further inspire the female officers to develop themselves to expand the scope further," said Chung Eun-sook, lieutenant commander at the Navy Headquarters. 

The Navy Academy, the country's elite institution, first recruited female cadets in 1999, and it was in 2003 that the country saw the first ever female naval officer be commissioned as an ensign.

Of the country's 8,000-some Navy officers, women account for around 6.4 percent, according to military data. (Yonhap)