South Korean soldiers will now receive up to three years of paternity leave per child, three times longer than the Army’s previous policy.
The Ministry of Defense said Tuesday that it has revised the Military Personnel Management Act to grant the same period of child care leave to male soldiers. Currently, female soldiers receive up to three years of maternity leave per child. Parents with an 8-year-old child or younger are eligible for the leave.
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The ministry hopes that the change will help soldiers balance work and family life, and enhance their quality of life.
According to governmental data, about 87,400 working parents used their child care leave in 2015. Fathers accounted for 4,872 of them -- 2.7 times higher than the 1,790 who used such leave in 2012.
Kim Da-sol (
ddd@heraldcorp.com)
