Regarding the media coverage of “830K of Compensation Vanished; Retired Lieutenant Colonel: I was Deceived by the Ministry of National Defense”, the Ministry of National Defense has stated today (31^st) that:

1.After investigation, the ministry has confirmed that the retired lieutenant colonel filed a volunteering application in April 2018 to discharge on August 30^th, and such application was submitted to the Air Force Command Headquarters for handling by the service team. As the Act of Military Service has not been amended when the specific lieutenant colonel filed for the discharge application, hence the seniority for the old pension system was selected in the original application form; the Air Force Command Headquarters then approved the discharge order for the specific lieutenant colonel on July 30^th according to the amended act subsequent to the implementation of the amended Act of Military Service on June 23^rd. The lieutenant colonel was graduated in 1998, who does not meet the seniority requirements from the old pension system, therefore, the one-off compensation and the double compensation across seniority from the old and new pension systems cannot be issued to the lieutenant colonel. The ministry hereby clarifies that all relevant procedures were handled according to the law and did not involve any violations or deception, and asks that media should verify the covered content to avoid misleading citizens.

2.This amendment of the Act of Military Service takes into account the seniority of the old and new pension system that is based on January 1st 1997, and that the military school seniority should be paid off, hence the original regulation in article 37 stating that the seniority from the new system must be selected as the seniority from the old system has been removed. Furthermore, “one-off compensation” and “double compensation” are calculated according to the service time; although some officers graduated between 1997 and 2000 entered the military school during the old system, they began their service after the new system was implemented on January 1st 1997, and hence they are not eligible to collect the relevant compensation. Officers from classes between 1983 and 1996 who meet the seniority across the old and new system as well as relevant compensation regulations in accordance with article 47 of the Art of Military Service can legally collect compensation according to the law.

3.According to the regulations in article 23 of the Act of Military Service, the military school seniority for those who are discharging after the amendment of this article can be converted into veteran withdrawal after paying for the pension fund, and the retirement pension will be calculated according to the regulation of 55% + 2% (originally 40% + 2%); take such level 11 lieutenant colonel as an example, his monthly retirement pension will be increased by approximately $13000 dollars, and he will collect an additional of approximately $5 million dollars since discharging at the age of 41 with an average life expectancy, which is a 7 times increase of compensation compared to before the amendment of the act. Officers who discharge and collect pension after this amendment of the Act of Military Service will be receiving an additional 15% of monthly pension, which manifests the promise from the government on looking after fellow officers.

4.The ministry has dispatched specialists to thoroughly explain the misunderstanding from some members regarding the clash of discharge application and subsequent approval time with the amendment of the act. Should there be any questions regarding the compensation or the amendment of the Act of Military Service for discharged fellow officers, please contact the following numbers and the relevant unit will provide a thorough explanation:

Ministry of National Defense: 02-23116117 extension 637120-23

Army Command Headquarters: 03-4792111 extension 339256-60

Navy Command Headquarters: 02-25333181 extension 682918-20

Air Force Command Headquarters: 02-25321610 extension 674166-69