Here is an article that explains a challenge that all male Korean college students have to deal with, when to do your mandatory service:
A batch of new military recruits salute their family members on Jan. 16 in Incheon before entering training camp. [YONHAP]Mr. Oh, a 24-year-old college student, wanted to serve his mandatory military service sometime between January and March of 2013. Aware that he would have to return to school upon his completion of duty, he wanted to hit the books straight away, making no time for staying idle.
In Korea’s current draft system, Oh needed to be wise about which month he starts and ends his service. In the best-case scenario, he could return to school right after getting discharged from the military. In the worst-case scenario, he would have to wait for an entire semester.
In the end, it didn’t work out for Oh. The competition was high. Way too many men had the same thoughts as him and the lucky-draw didn’t play out to his advantage.
Oh eventually began in June 2013, one of the least-expected – and most unpopular – month of the entire year.
He was discharged in March 2015, after the spring semester began. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but this is just another example of why I have a lot of respect for the Koreans that complete their mandatory military service.
Kim Jae-joong, a member of boy band JYJ, salutes fans and reporters after being discharged from military service on Dec. 30, 2016, at an Army infantry division in Yongin, south of Seoul. Kim served 21 months in compulsory military duty. (Yonhap)
His jail sentence was suspended which means his plan to dodge mandatory service did in fact work:
A man has been given a jail term for having his body covered with tattoos to avoid mandatory military service.
Under the conscription law, men with “excessive” tattoos on their bodies are immune from duty for fear that they could upset other soldiers.
The man, 20, was sentenced to one year in prison with the term suspended for two years, the court in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, revealed Monday. [Korea Times]
It seems for people with religious reasons for not wanting to conduct their mandatory service in the military could be used to do something more productive than sitting in a jail cell with other criminals:
Hopes are fading for an alternative to Korea’s mandatory military service after decades of calls from pacifists and religious groups to spare conscientious objectors the martial ordeal.
Some 6,088 young men chose prison rather than mandatory military service over the decade from 2006 to 2015, over 99 percent on religious grounds, according to Defense Ministry data Thursday. That boils down to 600 a year, or just 0.24 percent of all 250,000 annual conscripts.
They are sentenced to a year and a half in jail and must serve the time alongside ordinary criminals. (……….)
But opponents say that South Korea is uniquely placed because it remains officially at war with North Korea, and there is insufficient public support for an alternative.
In data submitted to the National Assembly early this month, the Defense Ministry said alternative service “can be abused” as a way to evade military service, and there is “not enough consensus” seeing it as anything other than a privilege for followers of “certain religions.” [Chosun Ilbo]
I did not realize that serving in a research institute was a way to avoid mandatory military service. This does not seem like a fair alternative to mandatory military service compared to the guys that have to join the ROK military or National Police:
After announcing on Tuesday that military service exemptions for college students of natural sciences and engineering will not extend beyond 2023, the Ministry of National Defense has backpedaled from this decision. Initially, the ministry said that it expects that there will be a shortage of able-bodied Korean men to serve in the military from 2020 and that it will subsequently get rid of the current exemption measure.
The announcement has resulted in an immediate backlash from engineering and natural science students from Kaist, Seoul National University, Postech and other universities as well as from small- and medium-sized companies and agencies that count on the added talent of young men.
But Moon Sang-gyun, spokesman of the Defense Ministry, said in a briefing on Thursday that the plan to get rid of the current exemption measure was one that “has been in under constant review since the early 2000s.”
He added, “The plan is under review in related ministries and agencies, however there has been a misunderstanding that the measure is already confirmed, causing controversy beyond what is needed.”
Under the current exemption measure, individuals who are eligible to be drafted for two-year compulsory military service can instead serve out their term as a conscripted police officer, firefighter, in the coast guard or in another relevant agency, company or research institute. Graduate students in natural sciences or engineering at top schools are in especially high demand at research institutes and small- and medium-sized companies. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
The guy that was jumping around kicking people in the City Hunter drama is some how unfit for military service:
Actor Lee Min-ho has been exempted from active military service required of all able-bodied South Korean men because of his medical history, his talent agency said Thursday.
The 28-year-old will instead work in the public service for about two years, MYM Entertainment said, adding it has not been decided when he will start the service.
The decision was made because he has screws in a leg he broke in a car accident in 2009. [Yonhap]
You can read the rest at the link, but I always have a lot of respect for the actors and other celebrities that complete their mandatory military service.
I remember a few KATUSA soldiers over the years who lived the majority of their lives in the US, but still went and did their mandatory service to the ROK Army to keep their Korean citizenship. I always had a lot of respect for those who did this unlike some of the Korean males that try to get dual citizenship to get out of their mandatory service requirement:
Michael Cho and his mother.
In May 2011, Michael Cho’s phone rang while he waited for an elevator in his freshman dorm. His mother was calling to tell him his conscription letter had arrived — from the South Korean Department of Defense.
Cho, a Georgetown University student born in South Korea, was raised in Sydney, Australia. But South Korean Conscription Law requires males between 20 and 30 to serve for a minimum of 21 months to maintain citizenship.
So, in the fall, Cho went to South Korea, jumping right into the regimented, rigorous drills and daily life of a South Korean soldier.
After a grueling five-week boot camp, Cho’s commanders selected him to patrol the DMZ — a dangerous demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North Korea and South Korea. Every soldier routinely took shifts patrolling the border. [USA Today]
You can read the rest and see a video at the link.
South Korean golfer Bae Sang-moon smiles as he prepares to report for military duty in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, on Nov. 17, 2015. All able-bodied South Korean men are required to fulfill military draft, and Bae was charged in February with violating the law for not returning after his overseas travel permit ran out. The court in July refused to extend the permit. (Yonhap)
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.
Unsurprisingly more and more Koreans do not believe in the mandatory service required of all males to defend the country:
More parents hope their sons can skip compulsory military service, which they consider a waste of precious years in their young lives.
According to a recent survey, seven out of 10 respondent or 70.2 percent, said they would encourage young men to “tough it out,” but the percentage was much smaller among people under 50.
Some 40.2 percent whose sons are nearing conscription age said they would prefer them to be exempt if possible. The proportion was slightly bigger among mothers than fathers with 42.5 percent as against 37.9 percent.
In a similar survey by a high school in Busan in August, 38.1 percent of respondents said they want to avoid conscription if possible. Only 34.5 percent agreed that military service is inevitable at a time when the nation remains divided, and even fewer or 27.4 percent agreed that it is “natural and honorable” to serve in the military.
That suggests some 70 percent do not see the point.
Asked why they do not look forward to their military service, 39.5 percent cited the hard life in barracks, 32.3 percent violence and bullying, and 28.2 percent said it would be a waste of time. [Chosun Ilbo]
There has been baby steps in the past to professionalize the ROK Army, but the fact that the ROK government is able to maintain such a large force for little money is going to be hard to change because a professional army is expensive. Just ask the Pentagon.
