Court Rules in Favor of Ph.D. Student Reassigned to Active Duty, Citing Remaining Service Period of 5.99 Months

A court has ruled that when calculating the remaining service period for a Ph.D. candidate engaged in alternative service as a specialized researcher who fails to obtain a doctoral degree, the calculation must be based on "months" rather than "days."

The Seoul High Court's Administrative Division 4-1 (Presiding Judges Park Yeon-wook, Lee Kwang-man, and Moon Kwang-sub) announced that it recently overturned the lower court's ruling and found in favor of the plaintiff, a person identified as A, in a lawsuit filed against the head of the Seoul Regional Military Manpower Administration to cancel an active-duty military enlistment disposition.

A was incorporated as a specialized researcher in a university doctoral program in 2023 to begin alternative service, but was converted to an active-duty enlistment target in October of last year after failing to earn a doctoral degree within two years.

The specialized service system allows master's degree holders in science and engineering to fulfill their three-year military service obligations by engaging in research and development work at research institutes.

If doctoral candidates fail to obtain their degrees within two years, their status as specialized researchers is canceled, and they must fulfill their remaining military service obligations after their service period is converted.

After the Military Manpower Administration subsequently notified A of an enlistment order for the Army Training Center, A filed a lawsuit in objection.

The core issue was whether A's remaining service period was six months or more.

Under the Military Service Act, individuals with a remaining service period of less than six months are eligible to serve as social service agents.

While A argued that the remaining service period amounted to 5.994 months when calculated in "months" rather than "days," the Military Manpower Administration maintained that 181 days remained based on a daily count.

The first instance court concluded that there was no problem with the Military Manpower Administration's calculation method based on days, but the second instance court reached a different conclusion.

The appellate court pointed out, "While it is difficult to assert that the Military Manpower Administration's interpretation exceeds the scope of possible interpretations based on the text, there is no provision anywhere in the Military Service Act stating that the compulsory service period for active-duty soldiers must be converted into 'days.'"

The court also noted that converting service into days could lead to varying results depending on the timing of incorporation or whether a leap year is involved.

Specifically, due to the varying number of days in each month, individuals who served the exact same two-year period could face different outcomes—some ending up as active-duty soldiers and others as social service agents—simply based on when they began their service.

The court stated, "This disposition is a burdensome administrative measure that imposes significant disadvantages, such as active-duty enlistment. Administrative regulations serving as the basis for burdensome dispositions must be interpreted strictly and should not be overly and unfavorably expanded against the counterpart."

Consequently, the court ruled, "A's remaining service period is 5.9945255 months, which falls under the category of less than six months," and canceled the active-duty enlistment disposition.

The Military Manpower Administration has appealed the ruling.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.