Social Discrimination In The Military

One of the major factors leading to social discrimination against men is the South Korean military. I served in the Korean army from 2012 to 2014, and my personal impressions of the Korean army are “lack of freedom” and “waste of time.” Korean soldiers are strictly prohibited to interact with the outside world, such as using cell phones. They have to sleep and wake up at appointed time every day. If there are no special occasions, soldiers do military training, watch-service, or various types of work as their daily task. They do get vacations once in a while and leave the army for about three days. Yes, this sounds like a typical military routine and why a fuss about it? First, Korean men did not choose to go to the army; they were forced and …show more content…
Even then, Korean men say that they can bear to serve the Korean army if reasonable social benefits are given. There used to be extra credits for veterans when applying for a government employee. However, feminists from the Ewha Womans University brought before the court that it is unfair to give veterans extra credits, and it should be abolished. Surprisingly, the court decided to remove the only social benefit for serving the Korean army. Last social benefit for soldiers that I witnessed in South Korea was a campaign from Starbucks. Starbucks was offering a free coffee to the active-duty soldiers who were on vacation, and the female feminists erupted like a volcano. They were crazily furious that Starbucks was offering a free coffee to soldiers and not the women who are main customers of Starbucks. It is unfortunate that Korean female feminists view even a minor social benefit for men as a huge discrimination against women when the ones actually being socially discriminated are men. Two years means a lot, and this is not just any two years. It is two years from a person’s 20s. A period of time crucial for most of the people. It is a time to study and socialize with other people at college. It is a time to join and adapt to society. It is a time to prepare for future by building specs and looking for jobs. South Korean women have two extra years compared to South Korean men in terms of being a member of society. Korean women are completely free from the duty of national defense. A true feminism is needed to seek the balance between two genders and exterminate social discrimination against men by either making women take responsibilities, such as paying more taxes for certain period of time or joining the army just like men, or give reasonable social benefits to Korean men for serving the Korean