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South Koreans tend not to think about North Korea very much. But for me, this year will be different. Just after the new year began, my 19-year-old son suspended his university studies to join a frontline unit for his compulsory military service.
Attending a ceremony for the new recruits in the freezing Seoul weather, many parents were visibly worried as to how their sons would adapt to military life. The general in charge of the frontline unit stressed the “sacred duty” of South Korean men to guard the nation against the threat of nuclear-armed North Korea.
Some tearful mothers rushed to their boys to say goodbye after the brief ceremony, ignoring the efforts of military guards to block them. The young draftees, with their newly-shaved buzz cuts, waved to their families and friends as they left for the camp where they would begin their five-week basic training.
Tensions are mounting once again on the Korean peninsula. But along with other parents, I am more worried about what awaits my son on our own side of the border. The bullying and hazing of conscripts has led to shooting rampages and suicides in the past.
My son asked me at the dinner table just days before joining the army: “What should I do if I am pushed to choose between killing myself or shooting someone else?” Horrified by his question, I can only hope that the so-called “barracks culture” has improved.
Thankfully, he called me a few days later, announcing that his first few days in the army were much better than expected. “The food here is great, much better than what I eat at home,” he said in a cheerful voice. I was too relieved to be offended.
Still, like many potential Korean conscripts and their parents, I hope that the country will soon be able to eliminate the draft and move to an all-volunteer armed force.
Conscription is a sensitive social issue in South Korea. Military service is enshrined in the country’s constitution, requiring all able-bodied men aged between 18 and 35 to serve the military for 18 to 21 months. Even members of BTS, the K-pop sensation, could not avoid it.
Military service is seen as a rite of passage for Korean men, but many conscripts also view it as lost time, given they have to suspend their career or education to take part. “There will be almost no draftee who wouldn’t feel it is a waste of time, even if it is to serve the nation,” says my 26-year-old nephew, who completed his service four years ago.
Only elite athletes such as Olympics medallists and internationally renowned classical musicians are officially exempt from service, although there are regular controversies about the fairness of the exemption standards.
South Korea keeps an active-duty force of about half a million troops, but the country’s falling birth rate will compel it to downsize its forces. Still, calling for an all-volunteer force remains a taboo for Korean politicians.
Among ordinary Koreans, there is anger that wealthy and powerful elites, including the scions of big family-run conglomerates, have been able to evade conscription. They fear that an all-volunteer force would mean units filled exclusively with those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
“It wouldn’t work. Other countries with the system are already struggling to recruit soldiers,” says Chun In-bum, a retired South Korean lieutenant-general. “Only people from certain social classes will become soldiers, which is very risky and unhealthy.”
The difficulty of maintaining the current size of the country’s standing forces has forced military authorities to review the possibility of recruiting orphans (considered a vulnerable group) and North Korean defectors, both of whom are currently exempt. It has also rekindled debate over whether mandatory military service should also apply to women.
But Kim Hyung-nam, a co-ordinator at the Center for Military Human Rights, says that reforming the barracks culture should be the top priority, whether it is a conscription-based or all-volunteer force.
“We are still seeing non-combat deaths of around 100 a year, the bulk of them being suicides,” he says. “Young men hate to join the military and will not volunteer unless their treatment improves.”
