Monthly wages for military personnel attaining the rank of sergeant will increase to one million won beginning this year.

The defense ministry announced on Thursday that the monthly wage for sergeant-level service members will be raised to one million won from the current 676-thousand won as it introduced key ministry tasks for the new year.

The raise is one phase of the ministry’s plan to increase the monthly wages of such ranking officers to one-and-a-half million won by 2025.

The ministry also unveiled plans to improve military barracks with the installation of bathrooms and showers, as well as reducing the number of service members per room to two or four, down from the current nine sharing a single living space.