Korean students at BYU–Hawaii share their stories of military service and how it changed them
In Korea, all men between the ages of 18-30 are required to serve in the military for a period of 18-21 months. There are no exceptions and even K-Pop idols and other celebrities must serve. This program has been enforced to prepare their country for wars and protect their homeland.
Annette JiSu Shin, a junior from New York majoring in peacebuilding, served in Korea as a missionary and she said she noticed differences between Korean missionaries who served in the military before their missions and missionaries who didn’t. She said, “They are more mature, disciplined, more confident and aware of others.”
Grueling training
Every morning, the day starts with a bell ringing at 6:30. Everyone goes to a playground and stands in a row. They run 2 miles before their duties, Jake Woojin Han, a junior majoring in accounting from Gwangju, Korea said.
Han explained that military members usually train, dig holes, reinforce their boundaries, clean, and manage tanks or cars. They finish working at 5 p.m. In training, Han said he specialized in artillery, which are large-caliber guns used in warfare on land.
Han explained sometimes they would climb up a mountain at night saying it was one of the most challenging parts of military service. "Sometimes, you have to get up at midnight and go up to the mountain for two hours." He said if the leaders caught soldiers sitting down or resting, they got in trouble. Climbing the mountain, "You watch out for your base to make sure nobody would break in," Han said.
Buhyun Jeong, a junior double majoring in exercise and sports science and education from Incheon, Korea said his military service included climbing a mountain while carrying a more than 40 pound bag and digging holes. He served near North Korea and said he remembered his feet and hands felt almost frozen during the entire fall and winter.
Jeong stated his responsibilities in the military included supporting commanders who were much higher in rank than him, and following them all day to check on soldier training areas in the mountains. He said it was scary to work in the position sometimes because some of the leaders were intimidating and frightening to their subordinates.
Motivation for military service
Herman Kim, a junior from Jeonju, Korea, majoring in biochemistry said he wasn’t very excited to serve because it was just a duty to check off in a Korean man's life.
Han had the same thought as Kim. However, Han added his motivation was that he could protect his family and friends by serving in the military. He shared it was very hard for him to not have freedom to see his family or friends, but they always showed gratitude for his service whenever he called them.
However, Jeong had a different perspective on military service than Kim and Han. He joyfully said, “I loved to serve in the military because it was a super good honor to serve my country.”
However, his face turned solemn as he shared his feelings about Korea’s conflict. Jeong said, “The saddest part was I had to prepare for wars with North Korea, because North Korea is also my family even though North Korea is the first enemy in my country for now.”
Jeong said if people look back to about 75 years ago, South Korea and North Korea used to be one country and currently have many of the same cultural roots. Jeong’s grandfather was from North Korea, but during the Korean War (1950-1953), he moved to South Korea.
Competitive military culture
In the Korean culture, age is very important and older people must always be shown respect by younger people. However, military service is a rank society, Jeong said.
Even though Jeong went to military service when he was 24 and he was older than other soldiers around him, he still had to obey younger soldiers who were in higher rank than him.
Kim explained when new soldiers come to the base, senior soldiers often judge who is the best soldier in a new group. He said people in the base tended to change how they treated new soldiers depending on their skills.
Kim shared a dramatic story about a friend who was not good at accomplishing tasks as a soldier. Many comrades disliked him, but Kim always helped him because he was taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which teaches about serving others.
Even though Kim always tried to be a good friend to him, he began to blame his mistakes on Kim. “Because the friend started hurting me emotionally, I ended up not being able to control the situation anymore.” Then, Kim decided to stop helping or even saying, "Hi," to the friend.
However, he explained that a scripture touched his mind one night. In Mosiah 4:17, the scripture said, “…The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore, I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just.”
Kim continued, quoting another scripture in Mosiah 4:19, "For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?”
Kim said, “I realized I had been doing the same thing as the Jews. So, I decided to continue to try to be like Christ and help the friend again. Actually, it was effortless because I was just taught by the scriptures. It was easy for me to be kind to my friend because I am also the one who needs help from God.”
When he served the soldier, he said, “I felt like I am 'only in the service of … God.'” (Mosiah 2:17) Kim explained the actions he took with kindness did not make the friend change, but the life lesson changed himself.
Stay in sacred place
Those in the military usually can’t go outside of the base where they are serving. There were some churches, but the churches on base didn't include our Church, Han explained.
Kim said, "The military base was definitely a place where I would be isolated from the church, but it strengthened my faith…. Military service is one of the most spiritual times in my life as well as my mission.”
Since most people in the military service were not members of the Church, the standards the church members held were very different from others.
Kim continued he intentionally studied the Book of Mormon or Preach My Gospel every day or prayed hard as always because he had planned to serve a mission after his military service.
Kim looked back on his military service and said, “It was a blessing that I know my Heavenly Father understands me even if others can’t. So, something that might be hard for others did not matter to me because of [God’s] support. [Now] I study the gospel even harder to keep my testimony than before my military service.”
Life lessons
Han explained the military service term was very long for him. “I felt like time had stopped. I counted how many days we had left everyday.”
However, he shared he learned to “endure to the end” through his military service. There were some people around him who came back home from the military because of health problems. He continued, “I was able to fulfill my duty full time, and I felt a sense of achievement. Because of this experience, I can do anything after this military service. It helped me to be more responsible for the rest of life.”
Jeong, who worked with commanders his whole military service term, explained he was impressed by the commanders. He learned the importance of forgiveness from them.
In the military service, subordinates often made troubles in their duties, they said. However, the commanders forgave those subordinates. Some members of the different military groups would start to dislike the subordinates who got into trouble, they added, but their leaders helped make it possible for the outcasts to become part of the group again.
Jeong said, “I saw Jesus Christ’s attributes in the leaders,” adding some of the leaders also believe Jesus Christ even though they attend different churches.
Jeong, who went on his mission before his military service, added, “Missionary work is much harder than military service because we have to serve God while military service is for my country. God is perfect, so I always tried to be perfect. I didn't want to make any mistakes because missionaries represent Jesus Christ.”