The Cabinet approved a measure Tuesday that would allow male soldiers, in addition to their female counterparts, to take an hour off every day for child care if they have very young children.

Under the current law, only female soldiers are allowed to use the daily child care time if they have babies younger than 12 months old. But the Cabinet approved an enforcement ordinance giving the benefit to male soldiers too.
 

In addition, the measure also calls for giving both male and female soldiers up to two extra days off per year if they participate in official events at kindergartens or schools their children attend, including meetings with teachers.

The Cabinet approved a measure enforcing a new law designed to make sure that children of senior public officials, celebrities and high-income families do not evade their mandatory military service obligations.

Under the measure, high-income families are defined as those subject to the highest income tax rate, which means those earning 500 million won ($442,914) or more a year. Under the law, about 3,000 people are expected to have the fulfillment of their military service duties checked by the government. (Yonhap)