Today I was supposed to a get a Visa so I could stay with my family in Korea longer. We went to Wunjoo's city hall and stood in line at immigration. When my turn was up I was threatened with Conscription with the ROKA. I was like HUHHHH. I am an American Citizen born to an American father with an American Passport, but apparently since my Mother is still a Korean Citizen(Permanent Resident of the USA) they thought my mom gave birth to me in America so I could dodge the draft. Apparently a grip of Koreans went to the states 20-25 years ago to do this. They kept on saying I look korean LMAO. I dont believe they can draft me can they? If so I might as well enlist...

They can't legally draft you, when you were born in America with only holding one citizenship (American), and you've never been a citizen of South Korea at any point of your life. Whoever is telling you this, is BS'ing. I can understand it if you had some point in life, had a Korean citizenship and never renounced, but that's not the case.

Thats what I thought thanks bro. The lady wasnt very squared away. $hit sucks that I have to wait two more weeks for my Visa. Gotta go to japan now...

Dude, just go to America.

They can't do $hit to you if you aren't a Korean citizen, let alone for the fact you weren't even born in Korea.

Even if your mother used a foreign citenzship to get out of the draft requires of a ROK citizenship, what can they do to you? Just hide in the U.S. embassy, they can't touch you in there.

They'll just conscript your mother. lol

Did your family register you in Korea at any time? If so, you may very well be considered a Korean citizen.

Tread carefully, OP.

I'm surprised the government still does this.

Is your dad of non-Korean descent? If so you can possibly get away on a technicality. What about your Korean language skills? IIRC you can choose an alternative to military service if your Korean language skill is below fluency.

If you want to do the military service you should talk to the people at the military manpower administration. That's where potential recruits go for their physical check-up, but they also do the placings of what boot camp or branch you go to. You automatically go to the Army if you don't talk to them; if you want to join the other branches like Air Force or Marine Corp you should notify them of your intention of joining those branches instead. Occupation specialty is also decided at the Manpower Administration, don't wait until you reach boot camp to choose your job, do it as soon as possible.

The life of an enlisted Korean man is hard,.it is not like a life of an enlisted American man. Micromanagement is very high, and a lot of your seniors are going to dump their work on you. Keep that in mind.


edit- And don't join Recon Battalion (수색대대). If anyone suggests you join 수색대대, refuse completely and run away. 2nd most dangerous job in the Army ever. They walk through minefields in pitch-black (no nightvision goggles). A Recon Staff Segeant got his leg blown off a couple months ago in my division.

Thanks for the Input. I aint sweating it. My aunt called a recruiter and the Immigration people in Seoul. They cant do it to me. The lady in Wunjoo was FUBAR. They said I can enlist though aslong as I give up my Citizenship lol. Might think about it since its been 4 months and USAREC is still smoking and joking when it comes to my Med Waiver.

Looks like conscription law have been changed, you should double check because my cousin who was also foreign passport holder (not dual citizenship holder) went through similar experience. I was told, S.Korea may follow similar conscription rule of France that if you have Korean mother/father and you have been paying tax or working in S.Korea, you could be eligible for enlist.

Your welcome.

If USAREC won't recruit you because of your medical reasons, Korean Military Manpower Administration might not either. Its going to suck if you drop your American citizenship for the sole reason of joining the military, but then find out you can't.

I remember you saying way back then that you wanted to join the ROK Marine Corp? My suggestion is, since you have an American citizenship, you should try to pursue a path through the US Marine Corp. Brushing up on Arabic language and culture might help make your medical waiver more appealing to the USAREC.

I have bilateral joint intstability, spent a great deal of time rehabing my shoulders and I got a board certified Orthopedic specialist to look at it and he wrote a letter saying im good to go and it is as stable as its going to get without surgery. The problem with USAREC is that the Med Board is not meeting as often as they used to, it is pretty much hurry up and wait. My dad and recruiter ensure me that I will have no problem getting back in it is just this wait is killing me. I already lost one buddy from my IET Cycle in Afghanistan and all my buddies who are with the 25th ID are now running patrols out of FOBs. Im jealous.

I plan on going back to the Army. Most likely I will have to go through Infantry OSUT all over again even though I completed everything... but thats what happens when your DD214 says nothing follows. I chose the Army over the Marines because they deploy more often and have more bases. I am currently looking at getting an 11x opt 4(Airborne) or option 40(Ranger). if I could practically complete infantry osut with two jacked up shoulder dislocating on me I think I can tackle the rigors of RASP with my deficiencies under control.

What Division are you with my cousin is currently serving his time with the 3rd ID the guys with the skeletons on their left breast.

I'm a little reluctant to name my division. I will get into big trouble if I make the wrong slip on the internet, and I am not a hard guy to locate due to my status in the Army. But I can tell you this, I am stationed in Kangwon province, in fact, I'm stationed not far from Wonju. But I work on the front-lines. I work in headquarters in my Artillery battalion, but my unit also guards the first line of delineation: Civilian Limit Line.



I'm sorry to hear that. I haven't lost any of my American friends in Iraq or Afghanistan, I don't know what to say.



That's interesting!



The White Skull Division. They're tough crack troops, their version of 수색대대 is second-to-none in Korea. They lost their unit flag to the North Koreans during the war, they train hard and wait eagearly for another war so they can take it back.

Are soo saek dae dae like the Korean Army versions of Rangers? My pops has a patch on his old m65 field jacket right above his EIB(Expert Infantrymans Badge) Its a combat knife with a star he said he got while serving with the White Horse Division. He is the only American I have ever seen with this patch. He said he earned back in the mid 70's.

Your not that far from me then Im in PyeongChan Goon just two klicks from MunJae Tunnel.

The White Skull Division (백골사단) is so famous. Every Korean men who were in military service know that.

Make sure not to reveal any military security.
You never know. You don't want to be in trouble.

This happened to my cousin too except he is already in the US army. He is a ranger to be exact. I got the letter that was originally sent to him because his dad's name is still registered to our grandfather's home. We live with our grandfather. I explained this to the recruiter, but she continued to explain that the law changed. He could be sent to the army if he set foot on Korea. This is if his dad stays for a long time in Korea per year. I forgot how many months per year. Fortunately for my cousin, my uncle hasn't stayed in Korea for that long.

Koreans have a tendency to accuse and generalize on the overseas Korean men as draft dodgers. Sometimes I get the feeling that it's because they're jealous.

They are very different in my opinion. Soo saek dae dae is an elite patrol/recon unit; in peacetime they patrol the thin-line between North and South Korea, in war they recon the area ahead of the division. Their life is hard, even by Korean Army standards. I haven't heard of any unit, even Special Forces, whose life is as hard as Soo Saek dae dae.

Searching on the internet. Soo Saek dae dae seem closer to US Marine Division Recon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States...ance_Battalions

Their force structure and objectives seem similar enough. I don't know if the US Army has an equivalent battalion in their IDs.

튿공연대 is a closer equivalent to the US Army Rangers.




I will keep that in mind.

And yeah, White Skull troops are tough.




Wait what??? Your cousin is in the US Army Rangers and the Korean government threatened to conscript him to the Korean Army?

In the special troops battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment they have a RRC or Ranger Recon Company. They are supposed to be the crack recon troops of the Army and actually have several combat jumps. They also graduate from Army Recon and Surveilance Leaders Course the same school which Force Recon and SEALS go through with their pipeline.

The closest thing I can think of are the Infantry Scout Platoons every Infantry battalion has them they are handpicked from all the platoons in the battalion and that says alot. They are usually with the head quarters company as they are battalion assets.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/lib...7-92/index.html
that goes in depth some of the info may be dated tho.

The Korean government didn't know it when they sent the letter. They didn't even know that he is American.

In Korea, a person could automatically gain Korean citizenship by using the family tree as proof. If the parents are Korean, then the kid can be a Korean national if a family member registers that kid. My grandfather registered my cousin. My uncle kept his own Korean citizenship after he became an American citizen. This is why the government sent the letter to us. My uncle's name is still registered to our address.

c'mon guys, just following my reunification plan and there will be no more draft.

Thank you for the information and resource. I'll look them up more deeply.

I'vr actually heard of 'Kyopo' being stationed here with USFK and having difficulties with obligations to Kor Military.

The question is why do Idiot South Koreans serve the military.. Seriously these fu-king morons that serve the UN and the US are traitors to their own fu-king blood. fu-king brainwashed, they are.. I would never serve them... not even I was offered 1 million dollars.