KB News Desk
Reform Party floor leader Chun Ha-ram is set to enter an Army training center in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province, on Wednesday to experience the conditions facing young service members firsthand.
Chun, a member of the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee, had his hair cut at a barbershop inside the National Assembly earlier that day as part of preparations for his two-night, three-day stay at the Army’s 27th Recruit Training Regiment.
He is scheduled to arrive at the training center later Wednesday and follow much of the same schedule as ordinary recruits.
On the first day, Chun will be issued a combat uniform, military gear and other supplies before joining recruits in their daily routine and preparing for the following day’s training.
The second day is expected to include comprehensive individual combat training involving an early-morning wake-up and simulated wartime drills, followed by a 20-kilometer nighttime march beginning at around 9 p.m. and continuing into early the next morning.
He is also expected to take part in overnight guard duty before completing the program with a soldier certification ceremony on Friday.
Chun’s office said the lawmaker proposed the three-day visit to experience the training and living conditions of enlisted personnel firsthand and reflect their concerns in future defense policy work.
According to his office, Chun also plans to take part in similar training programs with the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
Chun said Tuesday that he wanted to update his own understanding of military life rather than rely solely on his past experience.
“Now that I have joined the National Defense Committee, I thought it would be better to update my own experience rather than discuss defense policy only based on what I went through in the past,” Chun said in an interview with the press. “That way, I think we can come up with policies that better reflect today’s reality.”
His office also said Chun had been preparing for his committee work under the principle that “policy comes from the field, not from behind a desk,” and that he sought to personally experience the treatment and living conditions of troops serving through the summer heat.
Chun, a former lawyer, completed his mandatory military service as a public-service advocate with the Korea Legal Aid Corp., rather than as an active-duty soldier.
The program marks the first time a sitting National Assembly member will spend two nights at a recruit training center and undergo training alongside recruits.
