Watching an update from Kim Hyun Joong first thing in the morning usually makes us smile, today he wasn’t very friendly to us as he made us feel a bit sad as soon as we woke up.

It has been 5 years since he was released from his compulsory military service which lasted 21 months.

To celebrate this date he showed us personal photos from this period, and had a warm thought for his former companions and chiefs.

Strangely it is not the photos where he shows us a thin and sickly face, nor those where we see him with a look full of doubts, nor even the one where he shows us a tear, that have marked us the most.

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The image that moved us the most is the one where we see his hand with a small handful of puny acorns because we have associated it in our emotional mind with poverty and hunger.
(Okay, let’s stop reading Korean War novels…)

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Seen from here we can find that the South Korean cultural model which strongly values ​​competitiveness, subordination, control and achievement is already very rigid, so we dare not imagine how their military service is going.

We do not know if reforms have been made, but until recently, by force of circumstance and because of a permanent, clear and known threat, this rigidity is probably maintained and somewhat understandable.

Military service is compulsory. It is part of one of the four constitutional duties; not performing it for an invalid reason is considered a disgrace.

The duration of this service varies according to the army corps and can range from 20 to 24 months depending on whether it is the Army, the Air Force or the Navy.

The young people are then obliged to serve the army for 7 days a year for 8 years (last duration to our knowledge, it seems that this period of “reservist” has been shortened)

It is also not known if since the recent debates, the conditions of hardiness for this military service have been relaxed a little, because until very recently, life in the barracks was spartan.

Food restrictions, no access to personal telephones, even less to the internet, 28 days of leave in 2 years to visit family (not to mention the acts of violence, humiliation and harassment leading some victims to extreme solutions)

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To end on an optimistic note, we will say that this time is now far away for Kim Hyun Joong, who, despite the particular circumstances of this period of his life which came on top of the army’s rigor, did not kept, it seems to us, only bad memories.

Tomorrow promised, we will try to cheer up with a more cheerful section.

 

Facebook post from Kim Hyun Joong :

 

Five years ago was the day I left…
At the fire station with a joint discharge certificate
Taking a commemorative team photo
My first vacation, come back in tears
I thought tears were only a feeling of sadness.
Except for the octopus.. Falling asleep early on my first vacation
Sleeping on a friend’s lap..
I miss you all, I miss you
The pawns (?) and… The Chiefs who took care of me
Please defeat Corona and protect Korea .