South Korea Wants YOU!

Got a bit of a scare the other day. All of us who are male Korean nationals received this email from the TaLK program, letting us know that we "are required to attend a military service meeting."

The day of the meeting, we showed up and waited outside in the hallway outside the room where we were having the meeting. Guys were joking around saying, "Well boys, looks like we're all going to become close friends for the next two years."

South Korea takes its mandatory military conscription very seriously. Since the two Koreas are still technically at war, they need their military to be robust and ready at all times. Military service is also a source of pride in Korean men, and any Korean men who try to dodge the draft are ostracized for doing so. And running off to Canada isn't quite as easy in Korea.

The door to the room opened and it was filled with men in business suits, women in business suits, TV reporters and journalists. The joking ceased immediately. The tables were perfectly lined up and these forms were placed at every seat.

Suddenly it didn't seem too far off that we were all lured in with the TaLK program as the cheese and the South Korean Marine Corps as the mousetrap. I have never sat in a room that felt more tense in my life. Talk about a heavy atmosphere. We sat there in silence as photographers snapped photos and the head of the Military Manpower Administration explained in great, heavy detail what the requirements were to serve in the Korean army. I'm still not sure if it made it better or worse that I couldn't understand any of his presentation - it was entirely in Korean and used advanced vocabulary. Luckily, the booklet they'd handed us had the details explained in English, so I read through that for the hour we were there. The verdict?

I don't have to serve in the Korean military due to my weak ankles!

Well, it's either because of my ankles or my sole US citizenship. Either way, I won't be joining the Marines anytime soon. However, a few guys from the program found out that they do indeed have to serve, in which case South Korea will put a hold on their passport and require them to serve two years in the military. Surprise!

For our increased blood pressure and hour of our time, the Korean government wanted to give us a masculine, nationalistic souvenir, which I assume is fitted with a tracking device.

At the end of the lecture, they also told us that for those of us that are not required to serve, we can still choose to join and serve the country, and that we should tell our Korean friends back home that they can do the same.