Life in Korea. 1. Military Part 2.

I talked about dark side of Military life in Part1.

So now i'm trying to talk about how military life is like as a one person.

There are lot of option to serve the duty, For example, we can do alternative service in Fire department, Police, Other public institutions.

In my case, I was a KATUSA which is belonged to the Korean army, having a connective role between Korean and U.S forces having military posts in Korea. Most KATUSAs belonged to both Korean Army and U.S forces and some stay in U.S forces's units. So KATUSAs are following both rules of two forces But, mainly Korean's.

During when most Korean men serve in the military for around 21 month, they usually get to sergeant(it's called 병장 in Korea)rank.

You may think at least Korean men can make some money from servicing the duty in Military.

Oh well, I also hoped so, But here's latest Korean soldier's paycheck.

Private : 148,800 won
Private First Class : 161,000 won
Corporal : 178,000 won
Sergeant : 197,100 won

It should be a weekly paycheck right? HaHa no.

It's a monthly paycheck!!!

So if it is calculated in hourly, Soldiers got paid 139 won per hour in 2016, and Minimum wage in Korea at that time was 6030 won.

At least soldiers can buy some snacks or other daily necessities in cheap price in the PX which is like supermarket.

So when soldiers go out for vacation, yeah.... Maybe some have to borrow some money from their parents or stay at home during vacation.

I was trying to think about funny part of Military life, could found tons of gloomy parts.

If you have any questions about Korean Military life, ask me.

I'll reply with my best.