2 years in the foreign army or social service agent?

[Geo16]

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Hi all, it has been awhile.

TLDR at the bottom.

For the preface, I have a dual citizenship between South Korea and the United States.

Any South Korean men over the age of 18 years old, we must serve around a year and 8 months service in any branch of military. However, my brother used to be a drill sergeant and served as a Staff Sergeant in the army. He told me that I wont pass the physical exam and therefore will be placed in the Social Service Agent( people that serve the community instead of getting drafted). This made me nervous because I have that exam in 3 days.

Dont know where to begin but he is certain that I wont be drafted and will be drilled for 4 weeks and sent off to do community service.

Do you think not getting into military serves as a negative mark when I apply in 2~3 years?


TLDR: Have to serve 2 years in the military but kind of certain that I will do 2 years of community service instead. Does it look bad on applications/interview?


Thank you for reading this long post.

 

[deleted480308]

It kind of doesn’t matter if you cannot pass the exam, just roll with it

 

[907914]

Hi all, it has been awhile.

TLDR at the bottom.

For the preface, I have a dual citizenship between South Korea and the United States.

Any South Korean men over the age of 18 years old, we must serve around a year and 8 months service in any branch of military. However, my brother used to be a drill sergeant and served as a Staff Sergeant in the army. He told me that I wont pass the physical exam and therefore will be placed in the Social Service Agent( people that serve the community instead of getting drafted). This made me nervous because I have that exam in 3 days.

Dont know where to begin but he is certain that I wont be drafted and will be drilled for 4 weeks and sent off to do community service.

Do you think not getting into military serves as a negative mark when I apply in 2~3 years?


TLDR: Have to serve 2 years in the military but kind of certain that I will do 2 years of community service instead. Does it look bad on applications/interview?


Thank you for reading this long post.

I would think not. The majority of your admissions committee members will be unfamiliar with the South Korean military requirements and you can simply list it as 20 months of compulsory South Korean civil service.

 

[Geo16]

It kind of doesn’t matter if you cannot pass the exam, just roll with it

Ahhh.. I see! Dont know what to do at this moment. I heard there are tough civil service out there and I will try to do some dirty deeds ( sewage maintanence etc..)

 

[Kardio]

Ahhh.. I see! Dont know what to do at this moment. I heard there are tough civil service out there and I will try to do some dirty deeds ( sewage maintanence etc..)

You could drop the South Korean citizenship

 

[Geo16]

You could drop the South Korean citizenship

Naw, my plan is to keep both.
Also, I've already reached the age when it's too late to drop it.

 

[Geo16]

I would think not. The majority of your admissions committee members will be unfamiliar with the South Korean military requirements and you can simply list it as 20 months of compulsory South Korean civil service.

Hey, I noticed the Army Star mark and had to do a bit of search to read your story before I reply to you.
First off, thank you for serving the country! Also, if you have time, I'd like to give you a message when I receive my Physical exam result.
For the civil service, I hope that's the case for me! But the best hope is that I get to be an active duty so that I can dodge questions if it is ever brought up in my life.

 

[ciestar]

Wouldn’t worry too much. Very few US applicants apply with any kind of military service anyway.

 

[Geo16]

Wouldn’t worry too much. Very few US applicants apply with any kind of military service anyway.

Thanks!! But you know how pre-meds are, we are always our finders of flaws.
The Exam is tomorrow (got mixed up with the timezone) and I don't know what I'm getting into.