The complaints about this training sound like a whole lot to do about nothing. If these athletes cannot do morning physical fitness training or row a rubber boat they probably should not be Olympic athletes to begin with:
Members of South Korean women’s national handball team perform a team-building exercise with rubber boats during a training at a boot camp for the Marine Corps in Pohang, South Korea, on March 30, 2016. South Korea’s Olympic chief has defended a decision to send hundreds of athletes to a military camp next week as part of preparations for the 2024 Games in Paris, citing a need to instill mental toughness in competitors. (Choe Dong-joon/Newsis via AP)
South Korea’s Olympic chief has defended a decision to send hundreds of athletes to a military camp next week as part of preparations for the 2024 Games in Paris, citing a need to instill mental toughness in competitors.
About 400 athletes, including women, will arrive at a marine boot camp in the southeastern port city of Pohang on Monday for a three-day training aimed at building resilience and teamwork, the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee said.
The program, pushed by the committee’s president, Lee Kee-Heung, has faced criticism from politicians and media who described the training camp as outdated and showing an unhealthy obsession with medals.
Officials at the committee have played down concerns about the potential for injuries, saying the athletes will not be forced into the harsher types of military training. Morning jogs, rubber-boat riding and events aimed at building camaraderie will be on the program. Sports officials are still finalizing details of the camp with the Korea Marine Corps., committee official Yun Kyoung-ho said Thursday.
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.
New Army chief inaugurated New Army Chief of Staff Gen. Park An-su speaks during the change-of-command ceremony at Gyeryongdae, South Korea’s main military compound, in the city of Gyeryong, central South Korea, on Oct. 31, 2023. (Yonhap)
South Korea continues to increase its military engagement with Ukraine by providing some much needed mine clearing vehicles:
Fortunately for Ukraine, South Korean firm Hyundai produces a similar breaching vehicle: the K600. And Seoul just pledged two of the 62-ton vehicles to Kyiv. South Korea will deliver the K600s “as soon as possible,” a government source told Chosun.
Hyundai makes a two-person K600 by removing the turret from a K1 tank—a South Korean variant of the American M-1—and adding a plow, an articulated excavator arm and a device for safely triggering magnetic mines.
The K600 is compatible with two dozer blades, both made by Pearson. A wedge-shape blade works best for digging up and shoving aside buried mines. A straight blade works better for generic engineering tasks: filling in trenches, digging revetments, et cetera.
Hyundai delivered the first K600s to the South Korean army in 2020. The South Korean and Ukrainian governments began discussing a K600 transfer back in May; the South Koreans finally approved the deal this month. There’s one caveat. The Ukrainians must deploy the vehicles only in “humanitarian” roles.
The caveat is meaningless. Arguably any mineclearing operation—even one that occurs while the engineers are under enemy fire—is humanitarian.
S. Korea-U.S. UFS drill South Korean and U.S. special warfare forces conduct a joint maritime infiltration drill on seas off Yangyang, 150 kilometers northeast of Seoul, on Aug. 28, 2023, as part of a South Korea-U.S. joint annual military exercise, the Ulchi Freedom Shield, which kicked off Aug. 21 for an 11-day run. The South Korean Army provided this photo. (Yonhap)
Border unit inspection Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Kim Seung-kyum (L) visits a command and control center under the Army’s 5th Infantry Division to inspect the frontline unit’s readiness against North Korean threats on July 31, 2023, in this photo released by his office. (Yonhap)
Multinational military exercise in Australia A K9 self-propelled howitzer operated by the South Korean Marine Corps fires a shell during a multinational live-fire demonstration in Australia during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2023 on July 22, 2023, in this photo provided by Australia’s defense department the next day. (Yonhap)
Since this incident apparently happened on Camp Humphreys back in 2018 it makes me wonder if this was a KATUSA soldier that was slapped?:
South Korean soldiers walk on the grounds of Camp Humphreys, South Korea, Friday, July 7, 2023. (Christopher Green/Stars and Stripes)
A former South Korean army officer cleared of assault charges after slapping a subordinate on a U.S. military base in 2018 must stand trial again after the country’s highest court reversed an appellate court’s ruling.
The officer — identified as a colonel in South Korean media reports — was convicted in a military court of assault for lightly slapping a soldier five to eight times for failing to salute, according to a June 15 decision by the Supreme Court of Korea. The conviction carried a maximum two-year prison term.
The decision sends the case to the Seoul High Court for retrial.
Both soldiers served in the same unit that supported the U.S. armed forces, according to the supreme court decision. The incident occurred at an unspecified base in Pyeongtaek, home of the U.S. Army’s Camp Humphreys and the Air Force’s Osan Air Base.
Names, ranks and other information about the soldiers were redacted in the court filing. Except in extreme cases of “cruel” crimes, South Korean law protects the identity of the accused.
You can read more at the link, but back in the day physical punishment for infractions like this was common which is probably why this Colonel thought it was okay to slap the soldier. I once did combined training with a ROK Army unit and at morning formation a ROK soldier ran to formation a few seconds late and the platoon sergeant slapped him, pushed him to the ground, and kicked him. No one ever showed up late to formation the rest of the exercise.
Live-fire drills South Korea’s multiple launch rocket systems fire during a live-fire exercise at the Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon, 46 kilometers northeast of Seoul, on June 7, 2023. (Yonhap)
BTS’ J-Hope completes basic military training This composite photo, captured from the Weverse fan platform, shows BTS’ J-Hope in military uniform. J-hope said on May 24, 2023, he had successfully completed basic military training at an Army boot camp in Wonju, 120 km east of Seoul, after enlisting on April 18. In South Korea, all physically fit men are required to serve about 18 months of military service. (Yonhap)
