The government will disregard education levels in determining whether one is fit for active military service, the military recruitment agency said Wednesday.

Under the current law, the government is required to recruit men with at least high school diplomas for active military service. Those with lower levels of education are assigned to reservist duties, though they can still serve active duty if they volunteered and met certain physical criteria.

The government will abolish the education-based criteria, the Military Manpower Administration said.

Last year, a total of 3,134 people were ordered to serve reservists' duty due to their academic background, with 629 of them expressing an intent to serve active duty, it said.

"With the revision, we expect to resolve the fairness issue related to education level," an agency official said.

All able-bodied South Korean men must carry out compulsory military service for about two years in a country that faces North Korea across a heavily fortified border. (Yonhap)