Picture of the Day: Chaebol Lieutenant
Chey Min-jung (R), the daughter of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, salutes to her mother at the Korea Naval Academy in Changwon City, South Gyeongsang Province, on Nov. 26, 2014. The 23-year-old was commissioned as second lieutenant after an 11-week training. She became the first woman from a chaebol family to enlist in the military in a country where all able-bodied South Korean men are subject to compulsory military service for about two years. The mother of the younger Chey is the daughter of a general-turned-president Roh Tae-woo who served from 1988 to 1993. (Yonhap)
I notice how the play up the fact that she is the granddaughter of a chaebol chairman while seeming to bury the fact that she is also the granddaughter of a former president of South Korea. I guess that means that Roh Tae-woo’s legacy is really tarnished now.
correction: -> daughter of a chaebol chairman
She’s on the start of a career path leading to the Blue House.
She’s an Ensign (Naval rank) not a 2nd Lieutenant (Army/Navy/AF). I understand that there’s only 1 word in Korean, but I’ve worked with the ROK Navy for years and we apply (and their Navy prefers) the English US Naval ranks to be utilized. O-1 in the Navy = Ensign. O-2 = Lieutenant (junior grade), O-3 = Lieutenant, etc.
Sorry, meant Army/Marines/AF… I’ve had a couple cocktails 😉
If they want to fast-track her to greatness, here’s an idea.
South Korea just disbanded their Coast Guard, so they will need to create some new kind of naval/maritime entity to take on the responsibilities that were once the Coast Guard. Get her in on the ground floor of that creation. Declare it a grand success, making sure she receives much of the praise, accolades and quick promotions from it. Then assign her out of it before it ever has to prove itself and fail at anything.
At least that’s how it’s sometimes done in our military.
Joec, great comments. Even if she joined up for future political ambitions I still give her credit for joining. Joe Biden’s son did the same thing and served in Iraq as a JAG. There was probably political reasons for why he joined, but many other people also have their own reasons for joining the military besides wanting to serve their country. So good on the Ensign her for deciding to serve her country as well.
While I completely agree that the military is a great springboard for bigger and better things if you play your cards right, I’d wager that Hunter Biden won’t be advertising his military service too heavily on his resume considering *everybody* knows he got booted for pissing hot. He also received a general discharge (as does everyone who is booted for drug-related offenses).
Jimbob, I was actually referring to Beau Biden who is now the Attorney General of Delaware. He plans to run for governor of Delaware in 2016. So it is pretty clear that he wanted military service to be part of his resume to advance his political career. Like I said before I have no problem with that.