Thousands of Koreans Every Year Giving Up Citizenship to Avoid Mandatory Military Service
South Korea loses Division (-) size element of Soldiers every year to people giving up their citizenship to avoid mandatory ROK military service:
More than 16,000 South Korean men have relinquished their nationality to avoid the mandatory military service in recent years, an opposition lawmaker said Monday.
A total of 4,386 men opted for foreign citizenship in 2014, up from 3,470 men in 2011, said Rep. Jin Sung-joon of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, citing data of the Military Manpower Administration submitted to the National Assembly for an annual audit.
In the first seven months of this year, 2,374 men gave up their nationality to avoid the military service, Jin said.
By nationality, most men became citizens of the United States, followed by Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Jin said. [Korea Observer]
You can read the rest at the link, but it was an interesting statistic that 10% of Koreans in public service successfully avoided completing their military service obligation.
As long as the situation with North Korea remains the same, the ROK will have a need for a large standing military. This is part of the price of maintaining the status quo. I wonder what would happen if military service was mandatory for all men AND all women. No college exemptions. No celebrity deferments. Perhaps business owners and politicians — parents of the sons and daughters being forced to serve — might be more open to the idea of finally doing something about bringing an official end to the Korean conflict.
Good thinking, Bruce!