Essay On Forced Military Service

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How to survive the forced military service (part 1)

How to find joy and relief under harsh realities

Compulsory military service

I was born in South Korea — NOT where the mighty leader Kim Jong-un holds his mandatory Pyongyang dance party — and raised at a boarding school in California since age 12.

Although I had spent most of my life in the United States, I was (and still am) proud of my cultural heritage. But as much as I liked my identity as a Korean citizen, it bothered me that I was most likely going to be forced to serve in the Korean military for approximately 2 years.

The practice of enforcing people by law to serve in the armed forces is called the conscription act, also commonly known as the draft. According to the CIA’s The

This allows the country to spend less on military spending and focus more on social welfare and economic growth, whilst making sure the country stays safe from any potential threat or invasion from its crazy northern neighbor.

So there’s a merit to joining the military — proudly serving the country and keeping family and friends safe.

But accepting the reality was shockingly harsh in the year 2010 when I had no choice but to join the military that many conscript candidates called a prison. Okay, let me rephrase that — I did have one choice other than joining the military: To spend time in a prison cell for rejecting the duty of a conscript candidate citizen.

Friends would normally ask how tough the physical training is in the military. But the physical training wasn’t too bad. What makes military life harsh is how the military treats every conscript as if he is a prisoner, deprived of freedom. And often times, there was not a shred of honor.

Without freedom, life was stressful. But I found ways to stay positive. Because of my experiences in the army, I learned important lessons of life and gained