By 
Soldiers in new uniforms stand alongside soldiers in old uniforms at a briefing at the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan, central Seoul, yesterday. The first, third and fifth soldier from left are wearing the Army’s new combat fatigues, while the first and second from right are wearing the Marines’ new fatigues. The new uniforms will be provided to all soldiers starting tomorrow on Armed Forces Day. By Byun Sun-goo
Via the Joong Ang Ilbo.
1:11 pm on October 4th, 2011 1
ch’s 5 to 8 year theory
3:39 pm on October 4th, 2011 2
The pants of old ones are weird looking and way too slender cut in the hips and butt. Very unattractive. Hopefully, the new ones are less form fitting.
4:50 pm on October 4th, 2011 3
2. Except on the females. I don’t like females in potato sacks. Then again, I don’t like fem,ales in military uniforms (cause they shouldn’t be there).
I do not see a startling difference here. What is it? Did a pocket move? Is there a zipper with more teeth?
4:55 pm on October 4th, 2011 4
Berets for all?? Say it isn’t so
!!!
8:52 pm on October 4th, 2011 5
They should have just waited for the Army to spend another small fortune to adapt yet another uniform. They could have acquired millions of unissued ACU’s at rock bottom prices.
9:27 pm on October 4th, 2011 6
“I do not see a startling difference here. What is it? Did a pocket move? Is there a zipper with more teeth?”
Digital camo, more fire- water- and abrasion-resistant, improved temperature retainment in all weathers, make the soldier look cooler and more menacing like a GI, just to mention some important differences. I know I’d love to be in one of those new uniform than in the old ones and appear badass like a real soldier from the first world, not from some backwater country still stuck in the Vietnam War era.
9:36 pm on October 4th, 2011 7
6. Sorry what I meant was no startling difference between US and ROK uniforms.
9:37 pm on October 4th, 2011 8
Then again, can’t see them that well.
10:00 pm on October 4th, 2011 9
I always thought the old uniform was poorly designed and looked like it was cheaply made.
10:03 pm on October 4th, 2011 10
…Think about it: South Korea is one of the biggest textile producers in the world and its soldiers were wearing low-tech Vietnam War era cotton fatigues.
10:31 pm on October 4th, 2011 11
First newsflash for you, TD. Korea had 4.5 million personnel to provide equipments for four years ago and 3.6 million personnel now while having 1/35 the Unite States’ defense budget.
Secondly the textiles aren’t really low-tech like they were forty years ago. The textiles are similar to what the homeland units of the US Army wore before the War against Terrorism. What I mean by them looking like they belong to the Vietnam War era is the aesthetic design and tone which is suitable for jungle or lush environment (green and wood camouflage, form-fitting to avoid getting caught in vegetation) such as Korea had been in for long years but not for the industrialized environment of a modern country which is why I’m saying the current improved looks are really an improvement.
Granted it still needed more improvement, so Korea is starting to do that. To be honest those uniforms were already in circulation two years ago in some units among the expeditionary and capital defense troops and among the officer corps.
11:17 pm on October 4th, 2011 12
“Korea had 4.5 million personnel to provide equipments for four years ago and 3.6 million personnel now while having 1/35 the Unite States’ defense budget.”
Rather weak argument when you consider that they don’t pay most of their soldiers. The least they can do is give them uniforms they can be proud of.
11:35 pm on October 4th, 2011 13
It turns out there is one more uniform that is not in the picture.
Picture safe for work… but site may be flagged as NOT SAFE FOR WORK.
http://www.lilykoh.com/gb/fhg/content/seekanddestroynon/04.jpg
But, remember, they will be going up against something like this.
Safe for work.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/19/117179787_2d13083592.jpg
11:37 pm on October 4th, 2011 14
“Rather weak argument when you consider that they don’t pay most of their soldiers. The least they can do is give them uniforms they can be proud of.”
Korea has more active paid soldiers than any European country has. The largest European armed force has no more than 200,000 paid soldiers, Korea has more than 300,000, now nearing 400,000 as low birthrate steadily reduces the pool of potential conscripts. Conscripts themselves are also becoming fairly expensive to train and maintain because of the necessity to satisfy the public’s extreme concern for their sons’ safety and welfare, and Korea also has the highest number of retired paid soldiers whose retirement benefit keeps getting expensive to motivate more paid soldiers to serve longer. At the sametime the Korean military continues to be much better equipped than any European military while having less than half the military budget of France, Germany, or UK, the three largest European militaries. Korean military is very efficient with its budget planning and expenditure the result of which far exceed the expectations of what military power can be gained with such a small budget, not the otherwise.
11:42 pm on October 4th, 2011 15
Correction:
“Korea also has the highest number of retired paid soldiers” among any nation of similar population and economic size. The best comparison would be the European countries who self-proclaim to be some of the world’s great military powers, but more in theory and less realistically.
12:23 am on October 5th, 2011 16
Tiger stripe for the ROKMC? Don’t make the same mistake the USAF did with their ABUs.
1:39 am on October 5th, 2011 17
“Korean military is very efficient with its budget planning and expenditure…”
They certainly save money on food. Kimchi wth rice and ramyon.
/Stationed on a ROK air base for 5 years.
1:57 am on October 5th, 2011 18
“Stationed on a ROK air base for 5 years.”
Since when, Leon? ROK personnel are very well-fed nowadays with daily provision of 3300 kcal of food everyday which is 27% higher than the normal consumption of 2600 kcal for an average Korean male.
http://www.army.mil.kr/sub_alife/sub_alife_2_5_2.html
2:00 am on October 5th, 2011 19
It was 94-99… Pretty much rice, a little soup… Lot’s of Ramyon had by all.
2:28 am on October 5th, 2011 20
“It was 94-99… Pretty much rice, a little soup… Lot’s of Ramyon had by all.”
A splendid meal, I say! I still eat like that many of the days too.
2:38 am on October 5th, 2011 21
#14,
I can’t believe you’re arguing that they should continue to cheap out on the uniforms. Really?
#18,
Bah, that’s because there are lots of calories in ramen and Chocopies.
3:16 am on October 5th, 2011 22
13 ChickenHead, loved the Pics. Be happy to service either of um.
3:33 am on October 5th, 2011 23
“I can’t believe you’re arguing that they should continue to cheap out on the uniforms. Really?”
They are not cheaping out on the uniforms if this thread’s title is any indication. And the foreign-deployment units of Korea were already as well dressed and well equipped as most of their Western counterparts since the 1990s. The wardrobe of homeland units of wealthy European militaries are as bad as Korea’s is and they have as much as two and a half times the defense budget in case of UK but less than one-third the personnel. Imagine giving Korea the same military budget as they for the current number of personnel (still nearly two times the number of paid soldiers) and how powerfully it’ll transform itself as a global military power. Well actually, it may prove to be more than just a mere imagination that Korea becomes a globally respected military power of cutting-edge textile technology and dressing culture as it pleases His Majesty the TeaDrinker as we approach the end of this decade, but let’s wait and see rather than talk about that.
“Bah, that’s because there are lots of calories in ramen and Chocopies.”
Read what the menu composes, TD. There are more than lamyeon and Chocopies there and those two certainly don’t have a lot of calcium.
4:33 am on October 5th, 2011 24
#23,
The old uniforms were ugly and cheap looking. Fact. Stop making excuses for that. They are changing them, so clearly the South Korean government at least partially agrees with me.
As for the menu, it’s not as fancy as you want us to believe it is. I served in a Commonwealth country. The British tradition is to feed the troops very well. So, really, rice and soup will not impress me no matter how fancy you seem to think it is.
5:27 am on October 5th, 2011 25
“The old uniforms were ugly and cheap looking. Fact. Stop making excuses for that. They are changing them, so clearly the South Korean government at least partially agrees with me.”
Canadian woodland uniforms are ugly and cheap looking. My opinion is fact.
I also want to avail myself this particular opportunity to get my own bitchslap inflicted upon your beloved country’s face: The Canadian government recognizes the Canadian military’s embarrassing deterioration in power and its declining usefulness, but what’s worse is that the government cannot do anything to stop the phenomenon. The strength of the Canadian armed force is far beneath worldwide acknowledgment and the country considerably less relevant in the global stage compared to the rest of the world while a particularly country in Asia has its military capability transcending generations in matter of years. Poor and sad Canada with its coming twilight that perfectly transforms its muchly boasted and undue reputation as a ‘G7 country’ into something less than a wishful thinking.
Actually the insignificant Canadian military shouldn’t even be worth my attention to criticize its legitimate problems… oh, just stop calling the raven stupid, crow. Why don’t you go to Canadian boards calling the Canadian military leadership a bunch of dipsh!ts for neutering it first? Of course not, Canada is your perfect little country.
“As for the menu, it’s not as fancy as you want us to believe it is. I served in a Commonwealth country. The British tradition is to feed the troops very well. So, really, rice and soup will not impress me no matter how fancy you seem to think it is.”
Korean soldiers are similarly unimpressed by the menu of Western militaries.
The breakfast, lunch, and supper of Korean troops include much more than rice and soup and their quality as food is comparable to those of Commonwealth nations. You cannot read the source I’ve provided when you should be able to as someone who proclaim to have Korea’s best interest at heart, and that denies your academic privilege to refute what I’m trying to bring forward to you as fact because you are educated with not even the most basic knowledge and information about the ROK armed forces.
I’m not trying to prove that Korean meals are fancy our should be loved by foreigners without question, no. I’m saying that they are good and sufficient for military personnel of Korean stature and taste, because that is how the Korean military intended the meals to be (I said this many times before: Korea doesn’t make most of its stuffs for YOU. It makes them for Koreans). And I try to prove this with statistics while you are making another childish attempt to derail me with yet another one of your mindless and baseless bumbling foolishness about what’s so fugly about Korea… and what an excellent perfect group of nations the Commonwealth nations are, hm?
8:20 am on October 5th, 2011 26
#25,
You’re a moron. Thanks for making that clear.
8:37 am on October 5th, 2011 27
TeaDrinker rages hard.
8:49 am on October 5th, 2011 28
#27,
Now you’re just trying to get the last word. Go ahead, if it makes you happy…
2:36 pm on October 5th, 2011 29
25 Koreans seem to love US chow halls. When they are planning joint exercises, ROKA eating in the US chow hall is one of the biggest issues. And no, the ROK chow I remember was little more than gruel and subsistence dining. Certainly not a feast or even a valid meal.
4:30 pm on October 5th, 2011 30
I remember the ROK troops really enjoyed trading us for our MRE’s. Whatever they traded was good at the time, but I can’t recall what it was. They sure loved our MRE’s.
4:40 pm on October 5th, 2011 31
#19 who the hell forced you to eat it? Quit crying all the time
4:42 pm on October 5th, 2011 32
25: Wow, what’s with all the Canuk hate? Here is my impression of Canadian Forces from personal experience and articles I’ve read. On an individual basis, they are pretty good, there just aren’t enough and there are fewer and fewer as their government cuts them to pieces every time they need more funding for their Communist programs. My guess is in about a century Canadian Forces will consist of three people. One of those will be shunted off for UN duty and the other two will be Non Mission Capable because one will speak English and the other French (the bilingual trooper will be of whoring for the UN).
As to this claim Korean service members are “not impressed by Western chow halls, this is utter garbage. Like Leon, I’ve seen this first hand. I used to eat at the Yongsan mess hall which serviced the Honor Guard Contingents. I don’t recall there ever being a time not seeing tables filled with ROK Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines stuffing their faces full of American food (with a helping of kimchi, of course).
5:24 pm on October 5th, 2011 33
#32,
Very funny.
But, yes about that food. I’ve had Thanksgiving dinner at a mess hall in Yongsan. It was excellent.
As for the Canadian food…We always had a selection of food to pick from, …fresh fruit, a salad bar, a deli section for those who wanted to make themselves sandwiches if they were in a hurry. Hell, steak was served once a week.
6:53 pm on October 5th, 2011 34
“25: Wow, what’s with all the Canuk hate?”
Notice nobody ever asks “whats with all the Korea hate”. But I digress.
This thread and its ignorant commentators who can’t stop bashing on anything to do with Korea proves my point.
Yes, Korean troops loves American food. But only to a certain extent – only because they’re getting something different for a change for a short time. Give the same American food to Korean soldiers, day in and day out, see how many Korean soldiers would try to eat it without throwing up from all that fat grease.
You see, what gets me about you guys is that, you guys can never banish the thought that, just because it is Korean (whatever it is, you name it), it is inferior, that Koreans don’t have a choice of eating nothing but Korean food (lol) or dress in nothing but garbage uniform. You guys just can’t wrap around that big Western egos of yours to realize maybe Korean soldiers prefer to eat Korean food?
Only Koreans know what I’m talking about, to go three days without gochujang or gochugaru, and eat nothing but fatty American food. You guys just cannot understand that, and incapable of understanding it because you’re too wrapped up in Western superiority complex.
7:47 pm on October 5th, 2011 35
“Wow, what’s with all the Canuk hate? Here is my impression of Canadian Forces from personal experience and articles I’ve read. On an individual basis, they are pretty good, there just aren’t enough and there are fewer and fewer as their government cuts them to pieces every time they need more funding for their Communist programs. My guess is in about a century Canadian Forces will consist of three people. One of those will be shunted off for UN duty and the other two will be Non Mission Capable because one will speak English and the other French (the bilingual trooper will be of whoring for the UN).”
On an individual basis soldiers of almost every armed forces perform very good compared to what benefit they get in return. But like you’ve said because of budget cuts the Canadian troops’ equipment aren’t really as good as they were before aside from what you see among foreign troops, and it’s sh1t calling puke smelly for a former Canadian trooper to say Korean equipment suck bad. I never used to badmouth Canada or the US as a nation or as people as much as nationalities from there like to criticize, insult, and bash Korea for sometimes emotional and less objective reasons, but for this time being I decided to transcend my tradition just once because TD was being a royal ass again with ‘Korea is a freaking stupid country and my country strong!’ of his. I think the Korean government’s bureaucratic management is very respectable in a worldwide standard and that’s why I’m putting efforts to defend it in this blog full of dislike for Korea but does that mean that the Canadian government is freaking stupid by comparison? Even if I thought so, I’d never say it to TD’s face because unlike TD I don’t feel self-gratification in emotionally bashing a foreign country even though sometimes they deserve that in objective basis.
“As to this claim Korean service members are “not impressed by Western chow halls, this is utter garbage. Like Leon, I’ve seen this first hand. I used to eat at the Yongsan mess hall which serviced the Honor Guard Contingents. I don’t recall there ever being a time not seeing tables filled with ROK Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines stuffing their faces full of American food (with a helping of kimchi, of course).”
Leon, Retired GI, and Chris in Dallas have to fast forward their thinking to 2011. It does not help them learn new knowledge of the ROK armed forces if their memory of the past causes their academic affinity to lag decades behind. It is accepted that the ROK military had a lot of shortcomings in its history (which country’s military does not?), but I’m now trying to show that they’ve not been idle in fixing them contrary to popular belief among under-informed foreigners (but not really their fault) and have made several improvements in a great manner the scale of which is simply beyond the comprehension of a mere being like TD.
You have not heard yet what a modern ROK serviceman (preferably a paid serviceman) of native background stuck for more than two weeks eating at a Western chow hall comment about the meal. This blog just lacks the number of Korean servicemen to explain the short-lived effect of seeing Western dish once in a while after being isolated from the society for prolonged duration, and how they prefer Korean dishes similarly much or usually more, how when given enough time to consider their impression of both dishes are mixed or at best balanced, just that the Westerners don’t see Koreans reacting ‘impressed’ by their own Korean meals and conclude that they are not. Big majority of non-KATUSA Korean soldiers are not capable of enjoying Western meal repeatedly day after day even though they may still continue to eat if they have no other choice. Hard to believe me? Well, TD will be similarly frustrated preaching how Canada is a perfect little country in a Korean blog with his short Korean and the Koreans’ short English. Again, this blog is chronically devoid of Korean servicemen to share you their experience and set the record straight where they need to be. But maybe you’ll not really respect their words anyway even if they tried if the current attitude being displayed by some members like TD is anything to go by.
And there is a separate case for the paid servicemen of the ROK military. They are given Korean meals in their bases and they have very little to complain about that (just like in the US military they can pay to get more food) but sometimes they are given meal pay to eat somewhere else. When they do get their meal pays you seldom see them going to Western restaurants instead of Korean restaurants, and this is very easily verified.
If Canada and UK also had three to four hundred thousand paid soldiers and another several hundred thousands of conscripts to provide upkeep for, their logistics will also be stretched very thin presumably even worse than how it is in Korea. But I’ll be giving them warm words of encouragement to overcome the challenge to do what is right for the nation instead of calling them cheap or fugly. Come the day Canada or UK need to reinstate conscription, and I doubt the shape of their armed forces will be any better. So they have stylish uniforms and magnificent meals in their chow halls for a hundred thousand soldiers (a record which I doubt will continue to hold if conscripts come pouring in), with what warfighting equipment of modernity and respectable power will they carry out wars against foes who are more than bunch of semi-failed states like Iraq and Libya? They are just fortunate enough to be presently located in a peaceful and cozy region of the world and their defense requirement is not as heavy.
8:15 pm on October 5th, 2011 36
“Even if I thought so, I’d never say it to TD’s face because unlike TD I don’t feel self-gratification in emotionally bashing a foreign country even though sometimes they deserve that in objective basis.”
Hey, South Korea is not a foreign country to me. I’ve lived here most of my adult life. I’m a permanent resident, as in a landed immigrant who pays taxes (and therefore pays for the South Korean military) and has the right to vote in elections. In other words, suck it!
8:20 pm on October 5th, 2011 37
But I wonder TeaDrinker, why you can’t speak Korean if you lived most of your life here to educate yourself better facts about Korea. And you should be glad that the South Korean military remains to be strong and useful even though its military budget is small. The South Korean military and its conscripts in their fugly and cheap uniforms eating substandard smelly dish everyday protect your livelihood far better than the Canadian military does, so far.
8:23 pm on October 5th, 2011 38
34: K, I think you’re pushing this a little too far. I’ve met Korean, British, Canadian, Japanese and New Zealand servicemen. Not one of them really liked military food. Now, I could understand Korean troops not being completely satisfied with American mess hall food. To them it would be not spicy enough, too heavy on meat, arranged poorly, etc. In other words, not what they were used to. I spent 2 weeks with a Korean unit. I didn’t much care for the food. I’m used to eating a largish portion of meat at least twice a day and in the first week my meat intake consisted of one anchovy! There was lots of quite excellent rice, kimchi and assorted vegetables. But at the time, that wasn’t what I would choose to eat in large quantities. The ROK Soldiers let me know the food was not near as good as their mother/grandmother/wife/etc. would make. But I didn’t see anyone who was about to die from starvation. It all comes down to personal preference.
8:33 pm on October 5th, 2011 39
#37
Well, suffice it to say that the Korean military doesn’t supply Western style meals to its troops not because they’re expensive. Korean troops just can’t eat them for long, that’s guaranteed. They would have to be eating them for two years. A paid Korean soldier gets meals as good as what a paid Western soldier gets, and conscripts meals for conscripts anywhere else.
8:40 pm on October 5th, 2011 40
I had no idea that 2003 was “decades” ago.
9:04 pm on October 5th, 2011 41
#36,
How would you know if I speak Korean or not? This is an English language blog, isn’t it? Ever hear of “context”?
“And you should be glad that the South Korean military remains to be strong and useful even though its military budget is small.”
Oh, they could kick North Korea’s butt any day. Anything of strategic importance in North Korea is known and has long been targeted. The only question is how much damage North Korea’s artillery will produce before it’s taken out, not whether the South will win or not.
“The South Korean military and its conscripts in their fugly and cheap uniforms eating substandard smelly dish everyday protect your livelihood far better than the Canadian military does, so far.”
What’s wrong with wanting South Korean soldiers to get better food and uniforms they can be proud of considering conscripts are forced to sacrifice two years of their lives (don’t get me wrong, I’m against conscription for not other reason that I know many recruits are unfit to be soldiers, and therefore are more likely to be a danger than an asset in time of war)?
As for the Canadian military… The ties between the South Korean and Canadian military are greater than you think. I’m privy to some information concerning this. Let’s just say that South Korea keeps it’s allies very close, but not so much so that China feels threatened.
9:05 pm on October 5th, 2011 42
Retired GI,
You began your military service in Korea long before that, and your opinions of those days influence your opinions of the present as it would influene your opinion of 2003.
A very simple way to put Korean soldiers’ preference for Western food is that most of them won’t last long eating Western food everyday if given the choice to reject them in return for Korean food. On the other hand they last a lifetime eating Korean food.
9:14 pm on October 5th, 2011 43
“A very simple way to put Korean soldiers’ preference for Western food is that most of them won’t last long eating Western food everyday if given the choice to reject them in return for Korean food. On the other hand they last a lifetime eating Korean food.”
You don’t get it. There is more to Korean food than rice and beans, kimchi, and seaweed soup. That’s the crux of my argument.
9:16 pm on October 5th, 2011 44
Correction to #40…not so much so that China feels more threatened than it already does.
9:20 pm on October 5th, 2011 45
“Oh, they could kick North Korea’s butt any day. Anything of strategic importance in North Korea is known and has long been targeted. The only question is how much damage North Korea’s artillery will produce before it’s taken out, not whether the South will win or not.”
And so? What I’m saying is that you should not have found the time to bash the Korean military when your own country’s military has its own set of unique and even worse problems. Your screams will be heard and answered better in Canadian boards aimed at the Canadian military. How am I wrong?
“What’s wrong with wanting South Korean soldiers to get better food and uniforms they can be proud of considering conscripts are forced to sacrifice two years of their lives (don’t get me wrong, I’m against conscription for not other reason that I know many recruits are unfit to be soldiers, and therefore are more likely to be a danger than an asset in time of war)?”
You are not wrong in wanting that. But you are not correct in implying that the Korean government was uncharacteristically incompetent or negligent in improving that aspect out of its volition, or that most countries would have performed better if they were the ones handling the issue in similar circumstances as Korea when it’s unsupported by any known historical example. Conscripts not receiving the same welfare benefit as paid soldiers is natural and expected, not unusual. Now that has plenty of historical precedence.
Now as for paid soldier for a paid soldier, I don’t think Korean soldiers have a lot to complain about.
“As for the Canadian military… The ties between the South Korean and Canadian military are greater than you think. I’m privy to some information concerning this. Let’s just say that South Korea keeps it’s allies very close, but not so much so that China feels threatened.”
Sure. We should be asking our great superior Canada to donate us some new clothes and some food for our starving and raggedly clothed conscripts using this close alliance.
9:42 pm on October 5th, 2011 46
“when your own country’s military”
Do you have the right to vote in South Korea? If so, when was the last time you voted? I voted during last elections and will vote again every chance I get. So, what’s my country?
9:45 pm on October 5th, 2011 47
…I’m probably more South Korean than you are.
10:11 pm on October 5th, 2011 48
“Do you have the right to vote in South Korea? If so, when was the last time you voted? I voted during last elections and will vote again every chance I get. So, what’s my country?”
I have the right to suffrage in Korea.
I don’t want to share you my voting preferences, though since I’m young I could only vote in the most recent elections. I abstained from voting in the last Presidental election and also for city and regional offices but I think I will vote this time.
“…I’m probably more South Korean than you are.”
You probably think wrong, TD, but I know it’s going to be impossible to persuade you otherwise.
And I missed this,
“You don’t get it. There is more to Korean food than rice and beans, kimchi, and seaweed soup. That’s the crux of my argument.”
Koreans easily get frustrated when they can’t eat Korean food for a long time. The case isn’t any different for military food.
10:41 pm on October 5th, 2011 49
“I abstained from voting in the last Presidental election and also for city and regional offices…”
I’m not surprised at all.
“Koreans easily get frustrated when they can’t eat Korean food for a long time. The case isn’t any different for military food.”
I’m not suggesting they adopt the menu of Outback Steakhouse (which I’m sure many would enjoy as long as kimchi is served as a side, thus is the suggestive power of advertisement). You’re ignoring my point, which is that they are soldiers, not prisoners (Do I need to explain to you the idiom “콩밥 먹다”?).
10:50 pm on October 5th, 2011 50
Korean conscripts are treated as soldiers, not prisoners. They are treated the same way Commonwealth nations would have treated conscripts if they had conscription.
You are probably referring to 짬밥 먹다, which nowdays does not refer to the quality of the food but getting along well with your companions and superiors.
11:01 pm on October 5th, 2011 51
And TeaDrinker,
I may not as often vote for Korean politicians as you do yet, but I’m visibly less critical of their performance than you are. In return for my vote abstenance through which I willingly forfeited my rightful opportunity to participate in the governance of Korea, I refrain from criticizing the politicians’ administrative shortcomings as much as I can, even though I’m not always successful because I’m human. For every harsh word that I send Korea’s way for many things I dislike about it (I dislike many of Korea’s cultural features, like age, race, and gender discrimination, and the glorification of educational attainment, wealth, and English ability, and also some idiots like Tom) I try to come up with several more words that are positive.
On the other hand I don’t remember ever seeing you commending Korea for some of the right things it had done, when Korea is clearly leading the nation better than most. Just bash, bash, and more bashing of Korea, a poor little inferior country compared to my perfect little Canada!
12:06 am on October 6th, 2011 52
#50,
No, that’s not it. I guess your Korean is not as good as you want us to believe.
#51,
I am a concerned voter, and therefore it is my right and responsibility to be critical of the government (which is essentially an oligarchy). You’d understand if you voted. Why? Well, partly because Canadians have an innate distrust of government, but also because the government is what prevents South Korea from being a great country. As my friend wisely said, if the South Korean government tried to copy European policies instead of American ones, the country would be better off.
12:27 am on October 6th, 2011 53
You are throwing idioms at me that are almost entirely unused in the modern Korean military culture in favor of another more appropriate expression. 짬밥 먹다 used to mean eating leftover food in the more ancient years but today it holds an entirely different figurative meaning among the servicemen.
“I am a concerned voter, and therefore it is my right and responsibility to be critical of the government (which is essentially an oligarchy). You’d understand if you voted. Why? Well, partly because Canadians have an innate distrust of government,”
I also am a concerned voter. I don’t vote not because I lack concern for proper governance of the government. I don’t vote because I acknowledge my lack of premonition capability to precisely judge which individual truly deserve my vote, and because I remain apprenhensive of the fact that I may aggravate the purported political problems of the country as much as I may contribute to their rectification. Yet.
“but also because the government is what prevents South Korea from being a great country.”
The government of Korea is not without fault, like any other country’s government. But it has come a long way to build Korea into what it is now, immeasurably better than what was originally expected of it at its inception. Hardly any nation could claim to have made better history if they were in a similarly disadvantageous position as Korea at the beginning of their nation-building.
“As my friend wisely said, if the South Korean government tried to copy European policies instead of American ones, the country would be better off.”
It’s impossible for Korea to follow the European model of governance because the geopolitical, geographic, and demographic environments they are subjected to are inherently different. You repeatedly fail to understand this.
1:42 am on October 6th, 2011 54
The idiom is commonly used. Look it up.
As for South Korea being unable to be more like Europe because of its supposed special circumstances …You seem blissfully ignorant of late 20th century history. Those of us who are old enough to remember the Cold War and the Iron Curtain are all laughing at your naivety.
2:04 am on October 6th, 2011 55
“The idiom is commonly used. Look it up.”
They are not used under circumstances where 짬밥 is applicable.
“As for South Korea being unable to be more like Europe because of its supposed special circumstances …You seem blissfully ignorant of late 20th century history. Those of us who are old enough to remember the Cold War and the Iron Curtain are all laughing at your naivety.”
동북아시아는 유럽이 아니라구욤… 나이 많다고 그만 나대세여 외국인 아저씽 ㅋㅋㅋ
2:19 am on October 6th, 2011 56
31. No one forced me to eat it, silly goose. But I do have empathy for other people. Was that a troll or were you just being an ass?
2:24 am on October 6th, 2011 57
K. Hell, I get frustrated if I can’t eat Korean food. It’s a must at least every three days and as I’ve said before there were periods when I subsisted on Korean food. I like Korean food. I certainly do not consider it inferior. ROK Air Force chow, like most military food, in any country, left much to be desired but you wouldn’t starve on it. Institutional food is what it is in any country.
3:05 am on October 6th, 2011 58
55
You are being obtuse for the sake of being so.
3:08 am on October 6th, 2011 59
… I’m also unimpressed by you Korean writing skills. You write like a child.
3:29 am on October 6th, 2011 60
I’m unimpressed with his reasoning skills. Having served in Korea for nine years, yes it BEGAN in the late 80′s. It included most of the 90′s and the early 2000′s, ending in 2004. So I served in Korea FOR a decade and LESS than a decade ago.
But K is unable to reason this out because he would have to admit that I have more first hand experience with Korean Soldiers than he or perhaps her.
I do agree that the ROK soldier couldn’t eat western food alone for long. He would miss his Kimche very soon. But the ROK soldiers still liked the MRE’s more so than even the GI’s did. Just a fact.
3:42 am on October 6th, 2011 61
“… I’m also unimpressed by you Korean writing skills. You write like a child.”
You often write your English like an adult but sometimes like an undereducated one which I find quite underwhelming. Like in this instance.
“I’m unimpressed with his reasoning skills. Having served in Korea for nine years, yes it BEGAN in the late 80′s. It included most of the 90′s and the early 2000′s, ending in 2004. So I served in Korea FOR a decade and LESS than a decade ago.
But K is unable to reason this out because he would have to admit that I have more first hand experience with Korean Soldiers than he or perhaps her.
I do agree that the ROK soldier couldn’t eat western food alone for long. He would miss his Kimche very soon. But the ROK soldiers still liked the MRE’s more so than even the GI’s did. Just a fact.”
You are refusing to admit that Korean soldiers are well fed and they’ll ultimately choose Korean food over Western food as their daily 급식 because Korean soldiers like MREs. Very logical chain of thought, I’m impressed.
3:49 am on October 6th, 2011 62
#60,
Yes, exactly. I never argued that they should be fed meat and potatoes, although the local diet has greatly changed and family restaurants such as Outback are making a killing. Simply put, most of these kids have never been away from home for more than a weekend or traveled abroad, so for a kid from Seoul to be stationed in Pusan it feels as if he’s at the other end of the world. Throw in technological withdrawal (no cell phones, no internet, no computer games), the loss of freedom and privacy, and you end up with a platoon of homesick kids. And since food is the only comfort they have, well…my whole argument (highlighted by a commonly used idiom which for some reason he is unaware of although he professes to be Korean) is that they should be fed food that is less institutional. Rice and beans, soup, grilled fish, kimchi…Whether you like Korean or not, after a while it’s gonna suck. What about Korean meat and poultry dishes? To me it seems it’s the least the government can do since these kids are sacrificing two years of their lives. Once again, these aren’t prisoners and so they should be well fed accordingly.
4:07 am on October 6th, 2011 63
“What about Korean meat and poultry dishes? To me it seems it’s the least the government can do since these kids are sacrificing two years of their lives. Once again, these aren’t prisoners and so they should be well fed accordingly.”
Why don’t you read the source I’ve provided already if you are so good in Korean? The military DOES serve Korean meat and poultry dishes to its conscripts, often and a lot. Read.
Combat rations also serve sufficient quantity of meat to Korean conscripts in a massively circulated basis. They have long been of the same quality as American MREs that Retired GI is so impressed about.
http://bemil.chosun.com/nbrd/data/10044/upfile/201109/20110910234519.jpg
4:10 am on October 6th, 2011 64
You can quickly notice that those food are not 콩밥 if you can read Korean as well as you profess. Otherwise bugger out of the argument that Korean conscripts are well fed.
4:20 am on October 6th, 2011 65
My previous post is unseen which has link to the content of Korean MREs.
4:35 am on October 6th, 2011 66
Damn…obsess much…
4:54 am on October 6th, 2011 67
Administrator, only one link can be seen at #63. Is it intended?
5:07 am on October 6th, 2011 68
#66,
What do you think, Korean American who just found out he’s been recruited in the ROK forces and is trying really hard to convince himself that it won’t suck as bad as he fears it will?
8:30 am on October 6th, 2011 69
I checked the spam filter when you mentioned having a post with a link hung up. It appeared to me all the links were the the same. I thought you had made a mistake with duplicate links.
If not, repost the links and I’ll clear them.
The spam filter normally puts any comment with multiple links in the pending file for review.
Sorry.
9:32 am on October 6th, 2011 70
When USInKorea says “spam filter”, he means he’s the spam filter. He has the habit of deleting and blocking posts he doesn’t agree with, and the posts just disappear.
2:06 pm on October 6th, 2011 71
70
10:26 pm on October 7th, 2011 72
Let’s summarize what has been concluded so far in this thread.
Conclusion 1: ROK soldiers have traditionally been well-dressed and well-equipped as combatants in a worldwide standard and the military will continue to improve upon the tradition in its diligent pursuit of maintaining a strong and efficient military force.
Conclusion 2: ROK soldiers are statistically verified to be well-fed by the military and their momentary interest in Western food in the course of their life does not propose a contradiction to that statistically verified fact.
Conclusion 3: TeaDrinker is a butt-hurt Canadian who has hard time submitting to the thought that he was wrong about Korea for once.
This debate is concluded.
11:35 pm on October 7th, 2011 73
72. That and someone killed this thread a couple posts back. It’s starting to become detrimental.
12:31 am on October 8th, 2011 74
Then let us hope that TD won’t aggravate the specified ‘detriment’ to this thread any longer. I just felt that TD was expecting a conclusive answer to his question from someone, but none appeared to be forthcoming so I decided I was obliged to offer him one myself that would finally put his dispute and disturbed mind to rest.
12:36 am on October 8th, 2011 75
74 As long as TD doesn’t portray the Great Wizard of the Universe in a negative light, I’m sure his postings are quite safe.
1:07 am on October 8th, 2011 76
His posts are unsafe at many levels.
His great propensity for posting butt-hurt comments about Korea (oh my god, it’s a blasphemy that Korea can do something right in my royal bible!) that are too amusing to pass up leads to recurring probabilities for many debates to deviate from their original academic purpose. I seriously doubt this is the first time it had happened and I sincerely hope I’m wrong in being so sure that it will happen again.
5:38 am on October 8th, 2011 77
What’s clear is that someone is desperate to have the last word, and it isn’t me.
5:43 am on October 8th, 2011 78
And fact: the old uniforms looked cheap (if you argue that they didn’t, then clearly you haven’t been in Korea long enough to have seen the winter gear, both the dress uniforms and the fatigues). I’m happy they got the new uniforms. It’s important for soldiers to have a uniform that is functional, comfortable, and looks sharp. You’d understand if you had ever served in the military.
6:24 am on October 8th, 2011 79
55 – I see what you did thar LOL.
6:34 am on October 8th, 2011 80
59 – EPIC FAIL
7:02 am on October 8th, 2011 81
http://animemangasociety.com/koreablog/2011/10/teadrinker-gets-smacked-down-by-k-and-doesnt-realize-what-the-hell-is-going-on/
7:20 am on October 8th, 2011 82
“What’s clear is that someone is desperate to have the last word, and it isn’t me.”
followed by,
“And fact: the old uniforms looked cheap (if you argue that they didn’t, then clearly you haven’t been in Korea long enough to have seen the winter gear, both the dress uniforms and the fatigues). I’m happy they got the new uniforms. It’s important for soldiers to have a uniform that is functional, comfortable, and looks sharp. You’d understand if you had ever served in the military.”
Uh-huh…
Oh wait, crap, you totally made me fall into your trap…
… Oh my god, I be having tears in my eyes now.