By: I Made Milagro Azra Sentana
Meet Chanju Kim or CJ, a 4th-year student from South Korea who made the hard decision to halt his studies to complete the mandatory military service. Due to the Republic of Korea’s (ROK) rocky relationship with its neighbor, North Korea, all males aged 21 or older are required to undergo military service for at least 18 months. Though, his generation has a shorter duration due to the ROK and North Korea improving their diplomatic relations.
“Back then it was 21 months, but my dad served for 30 months because of the harsh tension. It was crazy” CJ added.
In South Korean culture, masculinity is truly embedded within this topic and there is a stigma for men who choose not to finish their mandatory military service. Since most men do complete it, those that do not can be seen as “not being manly enough”.
CJ mentioned how during casual hangouts or in a job setting, the conversation of your military experience is pretty common. Even CJ’s dad encouraged him to join to become a real man.
“In Korean culture, you are not seen as a real man until you finish military service.”
The rough and tedious training program
Every recruit has to undergo 5 weeks of intense basic training. On the first day, everyone was issued their military clothing and was given that signature military buzz cut. During this period, recruits are isolated from the outside world as smartphones are prohibited. However, nowadays recruits are allowed to use their phones after work.
Teaching the recruits how to shoot is part of the basic training. Targets are set up in 50 meters, 100 meters, and even 200 meters. Many recruits felt nervous because that was their first time holding and firing guns, and they were expected to shoot at least 12 targets out of 20. CJ explains how shooting guns is not as easy as it seems, as out of 400 recruits only a third of them pass.
“It took me 3 times to pass because it was my first time shooting. The recoil is what makes it harder than it looks.”
The wage of fresh recruits is not enough to sustain a living, especially in a developed country like Korea. According to CJ, fresh recruits roughly make around $300 or 38,000円. The only way to earn more is to get promoted to a higher rank, which is what happened with CJ.
“Since it is mandatory service, you are paid very little. I got up to $600 a month because I went up the ranks.”
However, he finds it rather odd that their US counterparts are doing the same jobs, but are paid more than the Korean recruits. Though, one possible reason is that they are actual soldiers, and not conscripted, like the Korean recruits.
“The American soldiers do the same amount of work as we do, but they get paid more. That was one thing that I didn’t understand.”
The Gas Chamber
The infamous Gas chamber training is the training that will forever haunt him. This is within the 5 weeks of basic training, meant to simulate a chemical gas attack, in order for every soldier to familiarize themselves with the effects.
The recruits are sent to a small room with their gas masks on and are subsequently instructed to take them off while a cloud of tear gas is released. The agonizing feeling of the gas made people cough, tear up and drool.
CJ explains that it was difficult to keep his eyes open because the gas swells your eyebags. Touching your eyes is highly advised against because of the toxicity accumulating in your skin. Touching them will cause massive amounts of pain to your eyes. Every recruit has to endure this for at least 3 to 5 minutes before moving on.
“People were drooling and crying; It stings and your skin burns,” CJ says, describing the experience.
Working with the U.S.
After finishing the basic training, CJ was assigned to a US military base. America and South Korea have had a close-knitted relationship ever since the Korean War, and its military presence is still prevalent today. American bases are scattered all over South Korea up until the 38th parallel, all with their functions. CJ, being fluent in English, applied to work in US military bases, and through sheer luck got accepted despite its competitive and low acceptance rate.
He recalled how he and his friends applied, but only CJ was accepted. He had the honor to work with US soldiers as a KATUSA (Korean Augmentation to the United States Army) for his military duty. KATUSA is a special branch within the Korean Army, where Korean soldiers are integrated into the US army. There he was taught military jargon in English, where he would mostly work as a translator during joint operations or training between the US and ROK soldiers.
Working in US bases is more lenient and less intense compared to working in ROK bases, as CJ was allowed to leave his military base during weekends, have his own room, and enjoy American cuisine, while his friends in ROK bases were not given the same privileges. It is pretty common for US bases to have American restaurants sprinkled in the compound, such as having a Texas RoadHouse store.
“Biggest difference would have to be the food -- it feels like you’re in America,” CJ says about seeing American restaurants all over the base.
A Texas Road House located in the base CJ served in.
Education after military service
Before doing his military service, CJ was a transfer student and had just finished his 3rd year in APU studying business. Just like his friends, they applied for 1 year of leave of absence, therefore halting their studies. He felt that it was normal for young adults like him to do military service during their university years.
In APU, CJ had to learn Japanese but mentioned how he forgot everything and lost his Japanese due to military service. He has later taken online courses to retain his Japanese skills. Due to Covid-19, he is currently taking online classes in Korea and is doing his best to obtain a visa to return to Japan. However, because he is graduating soon, the chances of going back are getting slimmer every day. He feels sad that he won’t be able to meet his university friends anytime soon.
“Many do the military service in their university years and not after because you are going to forget what you’ve learned,” CJ claimed when asked why he did not do it after graduating.
Lessons learned
Before joining the military, he saw it as a waste of time. He felt that it was unnecessary when seeing his friends who did not do their military service by staying out of Korea. However, he does not regret a single second of doing it because of the lessons he learned throughout his service.
He left the military being more physically fit than ever before, but months have passed and felt he isn’t at his peak anymore. However, the importance of keeping yourself physically fit is now edged into his brain. Maturity is also a key component he mentioned, as the environment of the military just molds anyone to be more mature than their previous self.
“Back then I used to be an extremely chirpy person, but now I feel more grounded and mature than before.”
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