Denmark Becomes the 3rd European Nation to Introduce Female Conscription

Denmark introduces female conscription in response to Russia-Ukraine War
South Korea maintains a female volunteer military system

The Nordic country, Denmark, is introducing female conscription.

On the 13th, Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen announced a defense maintenance plan introducing female conscription. The necessary legislation will be revised next year and planned to be implemented in 2026.

Currently, in Denmark, men aged 18 years and older are subject to compulsory enlistment, and the military service period usually ranges from 4 to 12 months, depending on the position. The amendment will extend the draft to women, and the minimum service period will also be increased from the current 4 months to 11 months.

Prime Minister Frederiksen stated, “We are rearming not because we want war, but to avoid it,” and added, “We are striving to achieve complete equality between men and women.”

The trigger for the introduction was Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said, “Although Russia is not a threat to Denmark, we must be prepared so as not to be in such a situation.”

With this decision, Denmark became the third country in Europe to introduce female conscription, following Norway in 2015 and Sweden in 2017.

Other countries worldwide that implement female conscription include North Korea, Israel, Myanmar, Chad, and Eritrea. In all these countries, men and women are subject to conscription, not a volunteer military system.

South Korea maintains a conscription system for men and a volunteer system for women.

According to Article 3, Paragraph 1 of the Military Service Act, “Male citizens of the Republic of Korea must faithfully perform military duty under the Constitution of the Republic of Korea and this Act. Women can serve in the active and reserve forces only voluntarily.“

This clause has consistently received criticism for “reverse discrimination,” but the Constitutional Court has ruled that it is not unconstitutional each time. The court ruled it constitutional in 2010, 2014, and again last year.

The Constitutional Court stated that men and women generally possess different physical abilities, and men with superior strength necessary for carrying and operating weapons and moving on the battlefield are more physically suited for combat. They explained that it is difficult to see that only men are subject to military service as arbitrary due to these reasons.

Recently, there have been growing calls for South Korea to introduce female conscription to solve the problem of decreasing military resources due to the population cliff.

Those who support the introduction of female conscription argue, “Shouldn’t women who don’t plan to have children be forced to serve in the military to achieve equality?” and “If it continues like this, women will ultimately become second-class citizens who end up being a burden to society.”

According to the Army, the number of troops decreased from 548,000 in 2006 to 506,000 in 2012 and 464,000 in 2018. This year, it has maintained 365,000.

Given the current birth rate trend, consecutive predictions are that by 2040, the number of 20-year-old men will decrease to 140,000, making it difficult even to fill 300,000 troops.

Lee Jun Seok, the leader of the New Reform Party, announced a general election pledge to push for a plan to require women to serve in the military from 2030 to apply for public servant positions such as police and fire departments. However, this was met with backlash among female voters who perceived it as an “anti-women policy.”

The Ministry of Defense also stated, “The Ministry of Defense has never considered female conscription,” and added, “This matter requires social consensus and agreement, so it should be carefully reviewed or decided.”