Tag: mandatory service

I would support a national service program as long as the military is not the only option:

The nation’s leaders should push harder for America’s youth to participate in public service, including in the military, as the Pentagon copes with recent recruiting shortfalls, former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Thursday.

The retired four-star Marine general called on top leaders across the country to implore public service on young Americans as the nation faces an increasingly volatile world and global power challenges from adversaries such as China and Russia. Mattis visited with some of those young Americans on Thursday during a stop at Georgia Military College, an independent, public kindergarten through 12th grade preparatory school and junior college with associate and bachelor’s degree programs.

“How many times have you heard the elected commander in chief, or your senators, or your governors or other elected officials say, ‘Uncle Sam needs you,’” Mattis told reporters before giving a speech on leadership at the school in Milledgeville, Ga. “I don’t care if it’s the Marine Corps, the Peace Corps, teaching, there’s any number of ways to serve our country … Do we really have an expectation today that each of our young people owes something to the country? I think it’s a lot bigger problem than just in the military.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but I agree with Mattis that a national service program would be beneficial to the country. Mattis brings up the Peace Corps as an option, but I think a national service program should focus more on programs to improve America not a foreign country. A program I think would be beneficial is bringing back the Civilian Conservation Corps that was a that was responsible for building many public works projects in America’s rural spaces.

I also think a national service program should not be mandatory which means it needs an incentive. I think the incentive could be tuition assistance or a small business grant that gives young people an early advantage in life for completing national service compared to those who did not.

Any thoughts from fellow ROK Heads?

Big salute to Jin for completing his mandatory military service instead of trying to find some kind of exemption to get out of it:

Jin, the oldest member of K-pop supergroup BTS, was discharged from his 18 months of mandatory military service Wednesday, with fans worldwide eagerly anticipating his return to the music scene.

After hugging his fellow soldiers in turn during a brief, teary farewell ceremony inside the 5th Army Infantry Division in Yeoncheon, 61 kilometers north of Seoul, the singer walked out of the compound at about 9 a.m. to be welcomed by his bandmates.

During his service, he served as an assistant drill instructor at the Army recruit training center there.

After saluting in front of the main gate, Jin received a bouquet of flowers and was seen smiling brightly as he reunited with five of his bandmates — J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V and Jungkook. RM, currently serving in a military brass band, marked the occasion with a celebratory saxophone performance of the band’s megahit single “Dynamite.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

With such short mandatory service times in Korea there is not much training V is going to receive to make him a very effective special operator. I wonder if he volunteered for this unit or the ROK military put him in it for publicity reasons?:

Photos of K-pop supergroup BTS member V in the gear of a counter-terrorism unit have been unveiled, a Facebook page on the South Korean military showed Thursday.

Images of V wearing pitch black Special Duty Team (SDT) attire were released Wednesday on the page, which serves as an anonymous bulletin board for military service members.

V enlisted in the military last December for his mandatory service and was accepted to join the military police during boot camp training, according to the Army.

The BTS member has since been assigned to the SDT, which focuses on counter-terrorism and other special operations, under the Army’s 2nd Corps.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It would be great if the Korean government told him no on acquiring citizenship since he waited until he was old enough to avoid mandatory military service:

Shin Yoo-yeol, front row second from left, head of Lotte Corp.’s future growth office, listens to Lotte Innovate officials during CES 2024 in Las Vegas in this Jan. 10 file photo. Courtesy of Lotte Innovate

Speculation is growing that Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin’s oldest son, Shin Yoo-yeol, also known by his Japanese name, Satoshi Shigemitsu, may give up his Japanese citizenship this year to be naturalized as a Korean citizen, as he turned 38 years old on Saturday, according to industry officials, Sunday. At this age, one can acquire Korean citizenship regardless of the completion of military service.

The heir apparent, who currently assumes executive positions at Lotte’s holding company and its health care subsidiary, was born in London in 1986 and grew up in Tokyo. After joining Lotte in 2020, he has worked for his father’s company in Korea and Japan.

Due to his frequent attendance at the conglomerate’s important events recently, he has been expected to follow in the footsteps of his father, who gave up his Japanese citizenship at the age of 41 in 1996 to acquire Korean citizenship that year without completing military service. At that time, men younger than 40 were not allowed to be exempt from military service.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Unlike those that have avoided the mandatory military service obligation in Korea, I definitely have respect for the BTS members who are putting their lives on hold to serve their country:

The remaining four members of K-pop megastar BTS — RM, Jimin, V and Jungkook — will begin their mandatory military service next month, music industry sources said Wednesday.

According to the sources well informed of the matter, RM and V will enlist on Dec. 11, followed by Jimin and Jungkook the next day.

In South Korea, all able-bodied men are required to serve in the military for about two years. The members were allowed to postpone their military service until the end of the year when they turn 30, under a conscription law revised in 2020.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I knew a KATUSA Soldier in this situation who was born in the U.S. and his parents still lived in the U.S. He could of avoided military service by not going to Korea, but his parents were adamant that he complete his military service just like other Korean males:

The Constitutional Court has upheld the constitutionality of the law requiring military service for men born to South Korean parents temporarily staying overseas before they can renounce their Korean citizenship.

According to legal sources Wednesday, all eight Constitutional Court judges rejected a 23-year-old man’s petition questioning the constitutionality of the Nationality Act forcing conscription on people in his situation.

The man was born to South Korean parents in the United States while they were studying there. He held dual South Korean and U.S. citizenships, and his application to renounce his South Korean nationality in 2018 was rejected.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Another BTS member is taking the first steps to complete his mandatory military service obligation:

BTS artist j-hope began the enlistment process for his stint with the South Korean military, his record label announced, making him the second member of the Korean-pop group to do so.

The rapper-singer, whose real name is Jung Ho-seok, applied to end his postponement of the mandatory 18-month service.

“We will inform you of further updates in due course,” BIGHIT Music wrote on Weverse. “We ask you for your continued love and support for j-hope until he completes his military service and safely returns. Our company will spare no effort in providing support for our artist.”

The 29-year-old follows fellow BTS star Jin, 30, who began his mandatory service in December. South Korea requires most men to enlist in its military by age 28, but entertainers can push back their stints until they’re 30.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It seems pretty extreme to conduct some of these self injuries to avoid military service. The mandatory service is not that bad to cripple yourself for the rest of your life to avoid:

A football player damaged his own wrist with heavy dumbbells. Another man even lost his hearing after subjecting his ears to loud horn sounds. Some others faked mental health conditions.

They all did so for the same purpose: dodging their compulsory military service. For many, the almost two years of service is a thankless task given to all able-bodied men born in South Korea, which is technically still at war with North Korea after the 1950-53 Korean War ended with only an armistice.

According to Military Manpower Administration data disclosed Tuesday by Rep. Song Gab-seok of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea, 321 people have been caught making such attempts to evade conscription over the past five years.

Experts believe the real number of such draft-dodging cases, including those who did not get caught, is far greater. According to data released earlier this week by the Korean Institute of Criminology and Justice, a state-run research center, 335 young men were reported missing in 2021 just before they were to join the military. Nearly 1,800 such cases have occurred in the past four years.

The revelations come amid a widening investigation into the people suspected of offering money to a “consultant” surnamed Koo, who gave them tips on how to avoid military duty.

The broker has been indicted on charges of offering such information to seven people, who allegedly paid him and his accomplice, surnamed Kim, at least millions of won (thousands of dollars) per case. The first hearing on their charges will begin on Friday, with investigators expanding the probe into 100 people now.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It is good to see that the authorities are going after and arresting these brokers who are trying to get athletes out of completing their mandatory service:

South Korean men seek new options to avoid their two-year mandatory military service, and the number of draft dodgers continues to grow.

According to data provided by Rep. Song Gab-seok of the Democratic Party received from the Military Manpower Administration, 578 people were turned over to prosecution for intentional draft dodging from 2012 until Nov. 30 last year.

Recently, volleyball player Jo Jae-sung was charged with contacting a local military broker to help him show false symptoms of epilepsy during a military reexamination. He was then deemed unfit to serve as a soldier due to this fake health issue, allowing him to serve as a social service agent as an alternative form of service.

The broker he had come in contact with was arrested last month for violating the Military Service Act.

Professional athletes in the fields of soccer, horse riding and bowling are also under investigation for attempting draft evasion with the broker. The names of the others have not been revealed.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but if BTS can do their military service than these athletes can as well.