South Korean soldier 'kills five comrades, wounds five'

[davidpdx]

3. Although someone answered it, I can give more details since I live in Korea

Men have to serve 21 months in the military and I believe generally it has to be before they are 25. There are deferments for certain reasons like medical problems, some types of schooling (I have Korean medicine students who have to go serve after they graduate).

One of my former students had some kind of problem with his ears and was deferred to like a community service type job where he worked at the local office. Some work as drivers. Those in the army do all kind of jobs depending upon what they are assigned. Some of them sit up on the boarder when it is freezing cold eating stuff out of a can (I can't imagine how depressing that is). The males who are in university generally go in after their second year and then come back after their military service. I teach at a university and we were told that we will have a large number of returning males in the fall and next spring which will boost enrollment (more students, bigger classes). I have seen a lot of the males come back from military service and they are much more disciplined and work harder. The males see it as a duty to their country.

Personally I think if there is mandatory service it should be both males and females. Then again, I just live here I have nothing to do with making the laws..