"The gap between the middle of the army and the new appointment and the establishment of the army is the highest since the beginning of the army."

Yoo Yong-won, a member of the National Defense Committee, said that as of September this year, 3,170 non-commissioned officers were discharged from the Army, while only 1,280 new non-commissioned officers were appointed, marking the highest gap since the establishment of the Army.

In addition, the number of lieutenants and bosses in the Army who applied for a middle-of-the-road discharge in accordance with their wishes even though the retirement age was still in place has nearly doubled to 1,275 last year, compared to 658 in 2021.

In particular, as of August this year, 1,204 middle and high-ranking officials have already applied for discharge, adding that if this trend continues, the number of non-commissioned officers who choose to be discharged this year will be the highest ever.

"The phenomenon is also occurring in the officer class," he said, adding that the number of applicants for the fifth-year mid-term discharge of captain officers from the military academy increased about 1.9 times from 29 in 2023 to 56 in 2024, and about 2.2 times from 13 to 29 from the maritime, and about 3.8 times from 6 to 23 from the construction.

Rep. Yoo Yong-won said, "If we compare next year's sergeant salary with the loss of the first-time sergeant class, which limits various taxes, there are more military officials complaining of relative deprivation due to a reversal phenomenon," and pointed out that the departure of middle-aged officials is interpreted as a reflection of such complaints.