{
  "id": 8612478,
  "title": "Military duty alternative revives for large conglomerates after 14 years amid AI drive",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/20/military-duty-alternative-revives-for-large-conglomerates-after-14",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-20T05:07:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Korea Times",
    "slug": "the-korea-times",
    "url": "https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/society/20260920/military-duty-alternative-revives-for-large-conglomerates-after-14-years-amid-ai-drive"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "The Ministry of Science and ICT has recommended large conglomerates such as LG Electronics, HD Hyundai Robotics, Samsung Medison, and Samsung Electronics for the resumption of a military duty alternative program, which was last available 14 years ago. This program allows science and engineering graduates with master's or doctoral degrees to work at research institutes for three years instead of serving in the military for 18 to 21 months. The aim is to prevent research career interruptions and the outflow of workers abroad as the country drives forward in artificial intelligence (AI) development. The program had been suspended in 2013 to prioritize research and development personnel for small and medium-sized enterprises, leading to criticism over the decision.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Korea Times",
        "title": "Military duty alternative revives for large conglomerates after 14 years amid AI drive",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/20/military-duty-alternative-revives-for-large-conglomerates-after-14-8614548",
        "published": "2026-09-20T05:17:02.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}