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Next time don’t bother chiming in. You’re obviously not Korean and therefore have no idea what you’re talking about.</p>
<p>For the record, I AM Korean, just not culturally brainwashed. I’m just capable of independent, rational thought. Evidently not a skill valued in Korea. :rolleyes: And since people who “disdain” others for dodging the draft would do so themselves without a second thought if they had the means, connections and power to do so, they have no right to look down on people for doing it. I don’t rely upon blind nationalism when I form my opinions. I like to think things through rationally. I don’t look down on draft dodgers, because if I had the means, power and connections to do it legally, I’d do it without a second thought.</p>
<p>My job in a capitalist system is to look after my own welfare. What did the government do for me to deserve 2 years of my time? As someone who plans to never go back there again, and frankly doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the peninsula’s welfare, what do I get in return? 2 years of wasted time? And what quality of work do you think you’d get at $100 a month? Korea’s a capitalist country and as such, they’ll get what they paid for, which is **** poor.</p>
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<p>“Evidently not a skill valued in Korea.” I think you’ve just proved that you very much are not capable of independent, rational thought. Especially after deeming respecting a country’s policy an act of someone “culturally brainwashed.”</p>
<p>You don’t have to like the draft. Many people don’t, and that’s your choice. But you shouldn’t slur a system when having no understanding of it. Draft dodging is not refusing to go when you don’t have to. It is when you use illegal and morally shady means to avoid a law. The “means, power and connections” you are referring to are bribing officials, abusing corporate power, etc. If you would do that without a second thought…well, good for you, I guess. I’m not sure what you mean by “legally” unless you mean doing government work, which is a different story.</p>
<p>But don’t generalize and assume everyone would do the same. I’m sure some people would, but those who believe it is wrong to dodge the draft (and break the law) aren’t doing so out of mere jealousy. Aside from those who do go to the army out of a sense of nationalism (and believe it or not, they do exist), draft dodging itself is a disincentive. You just might be able to avoid two years, but you face the high risk of being caught (since the people who have the “means” to avoid it are usually high-profile) for the rest of your life.</p>
<p>It’s great that you subscribe to the whole capitalist, individualist idealogy or whatever. But it was your choice to not live in Korea, just as it is your choice not to go back. And for some people 2 years of serving their country is important and you shouldn’t be so quick to jump all over it with swear words and generalizations. Especially when it’s someone else’s country (it doesn’t matter what ethnicity you are at this point).</p>
<h2>And I don’t know where you’ve been if you think Korea is poor.</h2>
<p>P.S Sorry for going on a tangent here.</p>
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<p>It’s not my country anymore. Why should I be forced to be a slave to it against my will? Because I hold their passport that they won’t let me give up? When you pay someone $100 a month to risk their lives and safety, you’re engaging in slavery. History’s proven that draft systems do not work. And if they do, they don’t work as effectively as an all-volunteer system. Evidently your bonehead politicians are too stupid to look at history or completely incapable of rational thought, or both.</p>
<p>I don’t trust someone who was conscripted against their will to protect a country, just as I don’t trust a regional airline pilot who’s paid $20k a year to hurl me through the air in a screaming pressurized metal tube at 500mph in one piece. You get what you pay for and if you pay $100 a month, in a capitalist country (of which Korea is one, unless something changed in my absense) you will get exactly that amount of added value. I know some do it out of nationalist pride, but I’m not that gullible. Why do you think despite having one of the largest militaries in the world in terms of body count, the Korean military isn’t one of the most powerful in the world? And for the record, the most powerful military in the world is all-voluntary and vehemently opposed to any kind of conscription. It didn’t work during Vietnam and it ain’t going to work now.</p>
<p>“Poor” is relative. When someone makes $15k a year starting and can’t live on their own because the cost of living is so expensive, they are poor. When the cost of food is so expensive a lot of people can’t put food on the table despite earning a “decent” income, they’re poor. When the public education system is so **** poor that parents spend a good half of their salaries on tutors or boarding school in the US, Canada, England and Australia, they are poor. Sorry, but Korea is a third world country with a borderline first world GDP. GDP doesn’t make the country a first world country. There are some fundamental social changes that need to happen before it becomes a country on par with the ones anyone with money and a modicum of linguistic skill is emigrating to.</p>
<p>There’s a difference between being culturally brainwashed and being open-minded about Korean culture. Sure, you say Korea’s not your country any more. Good for you. That doesn’t mean you have the right to go off and generalize about Koreans’ independent thinking. Yes, Korea has its share of problems, as does America. Boolean and Alt_F4 aren’t criticizing America’s (absence of) a universal healthcare system and American corporations whose greed (which you could argue displays a lack of rational thinking, but thats not the point) has caused them to implode and need millions of dollars of government bail out money - I don’t see why you should attack various aspects of Korea’s culture. Like you said, look after your own welfare - conscription’s not going to hurt you, is it? So it’s of no concern to you. Agree to disagree and get over it.</p>
<p>^Thank you.</p>
<p>It’s funny you should bring up relativism, because you keep forgetting to consider Korea’s own unique situation and the system needed to match it. Sure history might have favored the volunteer system for some countries. So what? How can you even begin to compare America and Korea when the size gap between the two countries, to begin with, is so great?</p>
<p>Anyway, this isn’t about whether Korea should have a draft system or not. This is about you going on about a subject in an egoistical manner that has shown no respect for another country and its citizens. It doesn’t matter how Korean you are, if you haven’t lived there for an extended period of time, then you have no right to go on and generalize about it. And your claims about Korea’s “poor” education system (which, having first hand experience, I can beg to differ- nobody receives tudoring because the country is poor) etc. show just how little you know about Korea. We are far, far from a perfect country. But don’t act like Korea has problems that America, or many other “first world” countries, does not.</p>
<p>You may be irritated that you need to go serve in the military- whatever. And if you don’t, then great, you have nothing to complain about. But the least you can do is show the slightest bit of respect for Koreans who are here. Opinions aren’t split into a dichotomy of agreement vs insult. You don’t have to like Korea, but please keep your thoughts to yourself when your language and empty slurs are clearly going to offend people, especially when you make assumptions without sufficient knowledge to back them up.</p>
<p>Now drop it.</p>
<p>i’m korean but i’ve only lived there for two years after i was born
we came to china for my dad’s job
and i go to an international school
btw, i livedin california (CALIFORNIA!!!) for 3 years</p>
<p>HEY GUYS
im korean and i live in malaysia
going to apply to US colleges!</p>
<p>Hi.
High school senior living in NY.
Applied to Yale and Princeton a week ago.
I am so paranoid right now.
■■■
<em>________</em></p>
<p>If you guys are Koreans, visit DCinside. 외국대학 gallery is much more active than this.</p>
<p>Reviving the thread for 2011!!!</p>