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Military service in South-Korea
- By NATHALIE VELDHUIZEN
- Published 04/19/2007
- Korean Culture
-
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NATHALIE VELDHUIZEN
I am French and I have a Technical Diploma in Multimedia/ Communications/ Networks. I then went on films studies, and that's when I discovered Korean films. Park Chan Wook's Old Boy totally blew me away, and that's how I got hooked up on Korean cinema, and then Korean music, language and culture. I started learning Korean in late summer 2006, just for fun, but now I'm addicted ! I so want to understand by myself all the Korean movies, dramas, songs, news !
View all articles by NATHALIE VELDHUIZEN
So, I went on a little research abour this topic, and here's what I found out (please correct me if I'm wrong).
- officially, South-Korea is still at war with North-Korea since no Peace Treaty was ever signed. Men are therefore trained for war, in extreme conditions.
- every Korean male citizen must go to the army for a bit more than two years. They can be in the active service or civil service and administration jobs, depending on their health condition.
- the age limit is from 18 to 30 or so...
- they can be dismissed from it only if they are unable physically to do the training. They can also be released if they get a very bad injury during service, and come back after their recovery ... or not if the doctors say so.
- the first months are active training in camp and it's the same for everyone. Then, they can be sent to the DMZ or in dangerous areas, or to work in cities, public services, etc...
- the mandatory military service was created in 1949, like the army, in order to protect Korea's independance.
- according to my Korean friends and to what I found in books, it's very difficult physically and psychologically. Korean men tend to have nightmares about military service even after they're done with it !
- it's strictly forbidden to avoid going to the army. If you say you don't want to go to the army because of your conscience, religion, or such things, you're very likely to have problems, to be sent to jail for some time, and to have troubles finding a good job later on. There is a big government and social pressure about this : if you don't go to the army (except if it's because of health problems), you are considered as a coward, even a criminel, a rebel to the State, or things like this. It's a matter of pride for your family and such. But things may change slowly ...
- some Korean men can avoid the military service if they have the US citizenship, which is becoming a trend these days : mothers go to the USA to give birth, the baby gets the US citizenship this way and will have the opportunity to have a different education later on and avoid the Korean military service if he wishes to.
- deaths are reported : men killed during service, but also suicides since it's very difficult.
- and yes, even stars have to go to the army !
- in North Korea, the military service lasts longer and is also for women !
- officially, South-Korea is still at war with North-Korea since no Peace Treaty was ever signed. Men are therefore trained for war, in extreme conditions.
- every Korean male citizen must go to the army for a bit more than two years. They can be in the active service or civil service and administration jobs, depending on their health condition.
- the age limit is from 18 to 30 or so...
- they can be dismissed from it only if they are unable physically to do the training. They can also be released if they get a very bad injury during service, and come back after their recovery ... or not if the doctors say so.
- the first months are active training in camp and it's the same for everyone. Then, they can be sent to the DMZ or in dangerous areas, or to work in cities, public services, etc...
- the mandatory military service was created in 1949, like the army, in order to protect Korea's independance.
- according to my Korean friends and to what I found in books, it's very difficult physically and psychologically. Korean men tend to have nightmares about military service even after they're done with it !
- it's strictly forbidden to avoid going to the army. If you say you don't want to go to the army because of your conscience, religion, or such things, you're very likely to have problems, to be sent to jail for some time, and to have troubles finding a good job later on. There is a big government and social pressure about this : if you don't go to the army (except if it's because of health problems), you are considered as a coward, even a criminel, a rebel to the State, or things like this. It's a matter of pride for your family and such. But things may change slowly ...
- some Korean men can avoid the military service if they have the US citizenship, which is becoming a trend these days : mothers go to the USA to give birth, the baby gets the US citizenship this way and will have the opportunity to have a different education later on and avoid the Korean military service if he wishes to.
- deaths are reported : men killed during service, but also suicides since it's very difficult.
- and yes, even stars have to go to the army !
- in North Korea, the military service lasts longer and is also for women !
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Comments
Comment #1 (Posted by an unknown user)
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A great overview of the two year service that Korean men must go through. Provides a quick understanding of the issue.
Comment #2 (Posted by kkoma)
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Thank you for this. I really enjoyed reading this article. It was a good piece of detailed information.
Comment #3 (Posted by Jennifer)
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Dear Nathalie,
Thanks for this article. Now i know a bit more about the military service in South Korea. It did answer most of my questions. Thanks for writing it.
Comment #4 (Posted by Romain)
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I heard that the civil service lasts 3 years instead of 2 for active service, is that correct ?
Comment #5 (Posted by Saizuchi)
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Brief and Short. Gave a good overview for the Korean military service.
Comment #6 (Posted by somebody korean)
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nice overview, but i think it could've gone into further detail. I am lacking some information, but other than that, good work on the brief article that makes sense! :)
Comment #7 (Posted by an unknown user)
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This is really interesting to read I need info about this since my fave Korean artist are going to do theri militart service and hopefully they can handle it really really well..Thanks again and good luck to those people who are doing their service
Comment #8 (Posted by cherry)
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thanks for the info.. now i know why korean male actors have to serve the military...
Comment #9 (Posted by maye)
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nice article! its very informational.. now i understand the mandatory military service in south korea. i just hope that the war between the two country ends.
Comment #10 (Posted by Maris Velasquez)
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very informative article..brief yet it answered every query i have in mind..thanks! and i hope that the war between the two countries will finally came to an end..let's pray for it.
Comment #11 (Posted by Roland L. Dicen)
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Natalie, what a very illuminating article about korean military service training. can you send me thru my email more infos about it? i'm doing a research about their military training.
Comment #12 (Posted by Maica)
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Some stars, in order to prolong their careers, declare their status as students so they won't have to go to the army yet. They enroll into different univesities just so they are declared as students.
Comment #13 (Posted by janine)
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thanks for this article,,now i finally understood why some Korean actors need to go on military service, i thought it just their desire but as i encounter some of popular names..my curiosity arose and then i started searching..again thanks for this..
Comment #14 (Posted by Derrick)
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hi i have a question
how do i reach you?
Comment #15 (Posted by b)
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may I know when exactly they have holidays from the military service? I heard they can have holidays... May I have info about this too? please email me.
Comment #16 (Posted by Vicky)
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the age is 20 to 30
Comment #17 (Posted by Stephanie Kim)
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I liked this article, but I think it needed extra detail.
Comment #18 (Posted by Giulia)
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hey,
thank you so much for this article. I have some Korean friends and they told me they felt like in hell during this 2 years. People from Europe should be so happy to have better conditions than the other people in the rest of the world.
Since I met my korean friends I'm looking foward to know more about this topic... could you send me some links where I can find really good informations or stories from boys who have finished the service to my email address?
GOMAWO!!!