Today at work, I noticed two of my young, male coworkers were wearing camo uniforms with their names sewn on them. At first, I thought maybe they were wearing costumes, what with Halloween being two days away. But no!
Apparently, every few months, young Korean men who have completed their military service have to don their uniforms, take a few hours off work and GO BACK TO TRAINING.
I vaguely remember being told this when I first moved here, because my friend Myung-shik was upset that he would have go to back one weekend. He said essentially, you have to crawl around in the dirt and do some drills. Sounds awful.
Another coworker told me today that the older, middle-aged dudes are technically supposed to go, too, but it’s easier for them to get out of it.
I just think the whole thing is surreal. Mandatory military service = definitely the worst part of being a young Korean man.