Photo: Republic of Korea army in training. Credit: Website of the Republic of Korea Army.
In the Gallup Korea poll from May 25 to 27, 43% responded that the South Korean military should transition to a voluntary army while 42% said the military draft must continue. This is the first time the end of conscription has polled higher than the alternative; in a Gallup Korea poll from 2016, 48% said the military draft must continue while only 35% favored a voluntary force.
In the same poll, the public was almost evenly split on whether only men should be drafted (47%) or both men and women should be drafted (46%). Men tended to favor male-only draft, 51% to 44%, while women favored unisex draft, 48% to 43%.