since everybody’s talking about south korea’s mandatory military service because of BTS, now seems like a great time to say that forced conscription is always morally wrong, and 90% of the world’s imprisoned conscientious objectors are south korean men who refused to join the military. despite the UN, human rights groups, and the south korean general public saying a mandatory draft with no alternatives is unethical, the current far-right administration and their new incel president have said they will be making LESS exemptions in the future because of declining birth rates.
the choices for south korean men are literally: join the military for 18 months, flee the country before they’re age 24-ish (they don’t let men who haven’t served yet leave the country once they’re around that age, because of the possibility of them fleeing), or go to prison for 3+ years, where they’re given prison labor so it’s like they’re “serving” south korea anyway. the south korean government also keeps a public database of draft dodgers, assumedly so they can be publicly shamed for the rest of their lives (and it affects future employment, of course).
currently the only exemptions are for “cultural merit” (olympic athletes, asian game winners, classical musicians and dancers, etc, hence why people thought BTS would fit in this category because it’s all about who brings prestige to south korea internationally, and BTS literally accounts for 1% of south korea’s entire annual GDP), mentally and physically disabled men, certain STEM programs where they can work as engineers instead of serving, firefighters, and some extreme examples like “this guy is the only doctor in a small town” or “this guy’s wife just died and there’s nobody else available to raise their young kids” — and it’s a big open secret that the sons of wealthy businessmen and chaebols mysteriously always get exempted for one reason or another, of course.
the cultural merit exemption rule was written back in the 1960s, before kpop and kdramas and all that ever existed, so in the last decade or so, a lot of people have been calling for an expansion of who gets exempted and how that rule’s defined, while others say giving celebrities special treatment is unfair. i don’t know if i even have an opinion on this because i’m so anti-military i’m just like.. exempt every man, dissolve the military, fuck it all — but: in the past, enlisted celebrities like kpop idols and actors have faced such extreme levels of bullying, sexual harassment (including other soldiers taking pictures of them in the public showers to sell online), and more, to the extent that just a few months ago, shinee’s taemin was transferred to a public service role because of how much the harassment and bullying he was facing was affecting his mental health.
the south korean military is literally known for its bullying, hazing, violent homophobia, corruption and favoritism with superior officers, high suicide rates, and more — but i digress. fuck the military and fuck the south korean government :) not for BTS, but for every south korean man forced to serve a country that does not give a fuck about them
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