How Mandatory Military Service Can Divide Rather Than Unite: Conscription, Gender, and Military Trust in South Korea 2003–2021

Abstract

Can mandatory military service increase confidence in the state across the population when only men are required to serve? To answer this question, we leverage the case of South Korea to examine how male-only conscription influences trust toward a critical state institution, the military. Based on the foreign policy opinion literature on the gender gap, we hypothesize that women hold different views of the military and respond in distinct ways to conscription. Analysis of public opinion data from 2003 to 2021 shows that women generally exhibit less trust in the military than men. Male conscription also has diverging effects along gender lines for parents of sons who must serve, increasing distrust of the military for their mothers while not affecting fathers. The findings suggest that mandatory military service can (further) divide opinions of the military across society.