Tag: mandatory service

My opinion has always been that there has been plenty of Korean celebrities that have completed their mandatory military service. BTS should be expected to do the same thing:

South Korea may conduct a public survey to help determine whether to grant exemptions to mandatory military service to members of the K-pop boyband BTS, officials said Wednesday.

The issue of active military service for the band’s seven members has been a hot-button topic in South Korea because its oldest member, Jin, faces enlistment in December, when he turns 30.

Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup told lawmakers that he ordered officials to implement a survey quickly. He said his ministry will also look into various other factors such as BTS’s economic impact, the importance of military service and overall national interest.

After his comments created a stir, his ministry clarified in a statement that Lee ordered officials to examine whether such a survey is needed, rather than launch it immediately.

Associated Press

You can read more at the link.

I don’t like the alternative military service for celebrities especially since a number of celebrities went and completed their military service and successfully restarted their careers afterwards:

Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon has proposed allowing the members of K-pop superband BTS to replace their military duties with alternative service as public relations ambassadors for the city’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo, officials said Thursday.

The government formally appointed the septet last month as a PR ambassador in charge of promoting the Expo bid, for which Busan is competing with cities in Italy and Saudi Arabia. 

Mayor Park recently made the proposal asking the presidential office to grant BTS the alternative military service benefit currently available to athletes and artists who helped elevate national prestige or cultural advancement, according to officials.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

With a high number of Korean celebrities that have completed their military service why should BTS be exempted?:

Saturday’s meeting between officials of the agency of boy band BTS, Hybe, and President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s transition committee went without discussing the K-pop sensation’s possible military service exemption, a high-ranking official said, while hinting it could be discussed in the new administration.

There was “no mention about the military service at all,” Ahn Cheol-soo, chief of Yoon’s presidential transition committee, told reporters after his visit to the Hybe headquarters late Saturday. “It is something that should be decided in the newly launched (Yoon) government, after discussion with the National Assembly,” Ahn said, leaving the door open for discussions in the future.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

It appears those sensitive about being overweight are unhappy with the ROK military for trying to encourage young people to lose weight so they can serve in the military:

The Military Manpower Administration (MMA) has taken flak over a promotional video that critics say disparages those assigned to non-combat duties for their mandatory military service due to health or other reasons.

On Nov. 5, the MMA posted video footage on its YouTube channel in which an active service member on leave talks over a meal with his friends, who haven’t been enlisted yet, about life in the barracks.

The problematic part was about the service member’s physical grade. While all able-bodied men in Korea must serve in the military, only those who receive grades of 1 to 3 in their heath examination serve in the military, while those who receive a grade of 4 are assigned to less physically demanding duties, mostly public service positions at public organizations, and those who get a grade of 5 are exempt from duty.

In the video, the man said that he was initially given a grade of 4, but joined the military after losing weight through an MMA program and improving his grade. The project helps those who receive a grade 4 or 5, due to extreme obesity or other health reasons, to get support from hospitals, fitness clubs or public health centers, to lose weight or improve their condition if they want to serve in combat positions.

The man said, “I applied for the project because I thought it fits well with my character,” and the friend replied, “You can proudly call yourself a man only when you fulfill the military service.”

This video has drawn a barrage of criticism for disparaging people who receive grades of 4 or 5 and take public service positions instead of combat duty.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The ruling party was trying to siphon male voters away from their conservative opposition by promoting the conscription of women into the ROK military. However, due to the sexual assault and follow on suicide of a female ROK Air Force NCO these efforts have been sidelined for now:

The recent debate on mandatory military service for women has all but disappeared, following the suicide of a female Air Force non-commissioned officer last month after her report of a sexual assault was allegedly covered up. 

Critics say the military’s macho hierarchical culture is to blame for this and other ongoing sex crimes, many of which go unreported. 

The decades-long debate on women’s mandatory service had again been brought up by some presidential hopefuls after the April 7 by-elections, in which the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), which took the mayoral seats of the country’s two biggest cities, Seoul and Busan.

After a large percentage of men in their 20s voted for opposition party candidates seemingly being the most dissatisfied with government policies, the two major parties and their presidential hopefuls jumped into a policy competition to appeal to them. Besides improving service conditions for young men during the mandatory military service, and offering them “rewards” for serving, some came up with the idea of conscripting both men and women.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Some more changes are coming to the ROK military:

The defense ministry said Wednesday it will complete reducing the mandatory military service period to 18 months by next year as planned as part of a series of reform projects under way to make the military “smaller and stronger.” 

During a meeting on defense reform presided over by Defense Minister Suh Wook, officials said the military is on course to cut the service period for Army draftees to 18 months by December 2021, according to the ministry. 

All able-bodied South Korean men must carry out compulsory military service for about two years in a country that faces North Korea across a heavily fortified border.

Other reform measures include raising the proportion of female service members and decreasing the number of generals with one to four stars.

The number of female service members stood at 7.4 percent this year, 0.6 percentage point higher than the previous year.

Among 76 general positions subject to reduction, 46 have been cut so far, the ministry said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I wonder what the male Korean college students that have to do their mandatory service think of the special treatment given to K-Pop stars? To be fair athletes have been getting special treatment in the past as well:

The National Assembly’s defense committee on Friday approved a bill that would allow distinguished male pop culture artists to postpone their mandatory military duties.

The committee gave its nod to the bill to revise the Military Service Act to grant an exceptional right to defer military duties of acclaimed pop artists, such as BTS, who are recognized to have contributed to the elevation of the country’s global reputation. 

The bill must pass parliament’s plenary session for final approval. 

The revision was proposed by Rep. Jeon Yong-gi of the ruling Democratic Party in September after BTS became the first South Korean pop artist to reach No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with its song “Dynamite.”

“BTS members will be able to put off their enlistments until the age of 30 if this bill passes through a plenary session and a related enforcement decree is revised as well,” the lawmaker said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This has been a long time coming:

 South Korea on Tuesday began accepting applications from men who want to substitute mandatory military service for other public services due to religious or personal beliefs, the military manpower agency said. 

By law, all able-bodied South Korean men must carry out military service for about two years in a country that faces North Korea across one of the world’s most heavily fortified borders. Violators are punished with prison terms.

In December, the National Assembly passed a bill allowing “conscientious objectors” to do 36 months of alternative service at local correctional facilities, instead of joining the military.

Last week, a 29-member committee — comprising lawyers, professors, activists and other experts from various fields — was launched to review the applications.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I have always felt there is more productive things that can be done with consciouses objectors than putting them in jail. It is good to see this now happening.