[COVER STORY] Should women serve? Korea's female conscription debate is back as troop pool shrinks

South Korea’s decade-old debate over female conscription resurfaced during a National Assembly audit this month, amid growing concerns that a shrinking draft-eligible population could undermine military readiness. During a National Assembly defense committee audit on Oct. 12, opposition lawmakers raised the issue, arguing that the time has come for a public discussion as the eligible male population continues to fall. Defense ministry data shows the pool of 20-year-old men eligible for service dropped from 332,000 in 2019 to 257,000 in 2022, and is projected to fall further to 228,000 by 2035 and 120,000 by 2043. Rep. Yoo Yeong-ha of the main opposition People Power Party said, "Now, we must officially put female conscription on the table. This will also require broad societal consensus." Rep. Chun Ha-ram of the Reform Party used the term “gender-equal conscription” — meaning mandatory service for both men and women — to call for a broader discussion on reforming the system. “If we continue wringing a dry towel without even considering gender-equal conscription as an option,