Introduction
It is mandatory that all males between age 18-35 to join the military in South Korea. This is because it is a constitutional right that is one of the four constitutional duties that must be provided by all citizens. The Korean Peoples’ Army is the military forces of South Korea, consisting of five branches, namely, the ground force, the Navy, the Air Force, the Strategic Rocket Forces and the Special Operation Force . The length of service depends on the kind of service provide. For example, the army and Marine Corps serves for 21 months while the navy and air force serve for 23 and 24 months consecutively. These are amongst the longest military service periods in the world. The military consists of active, reserve and paramilitary personnel a total of 9,495,000 people almost 40% of the nation’s population and the entire population between the ages of 20-45. Since it is the country’s stronghold, its annual budget is approximately six billion USD, according to the South Korea state news agency; the military had a total expenditure of 15.8% of the state budget in the year 2010., it is important for the citizens of the country to join the army because; the country is still at war, joining the military is mandatory, because if not then no one will join and lastly, the country has large numbers of equipments that should be handled in case of war thus needs many soldiers.
Body
- Still at war.
The South Korean Army conducted a nuclear test recently, the second one after three years, tension between South Korea and North Korea still remains high, even though the war ended in 1953. The military is large with the largest number of special forces of almost 120,000 soldiers, the country has the political will to wage war against its opponents, like North Korea and the United States, South Korean government is ready to allocate all of its resources to enhance its military capability, it is important for the people to join the military and increase its size to a greater extent in preparation for war from countries like the U.S and China, this will enable them defend their country and maybe win the war, as they say, “there is strength in numbers” .
- If not mandatory, no one will join
The war between North And South Korea in the 1950s had adverse effect on the country’s economy and the citizens, many people died and property was destroyed in large numbers, therefore many people would not like their country to go back to war again, but the government has made it mandatory for the men to join the military, they are compulsorily enlisted into the army and have to serve for at least two years. Then they can come back to civilian life or stay in the military.
- South Korea, has large numbers of Weapons of mass destruction
The South Korean military is making a steady transition to asymmetric forces that is; strategic weapons, submarines and special operations forces, this transition began in the 1990s to a point that it can be said to be complete, this strategy has become a deadly threat to other states as South Korea still involves itself with deadly provocations, displaying its brinkmanship and capabilities at the moment they have the largest asymmetric force. It has great amount of military equipments hidden underground or in the military base stores it has about 70 submarines, and about 820 warplanes, military facilities are located underground to withstand bunker-buster bombs., these equipments must be handled by many soldiers, there should be experts for flying the fighter jets, planting bombs and ammunition holders, the number of soldiers must match the number of equipments, if the soldiers are few then less equipment will be used .
Conclusion
South Korea is an aggressive country that has tried to provoke its opponents a number of times so as to show its military strength, the advantages the military posses outweigh the disadvantages and America being a superpower can adopt a few measures from this declining military power, for example, increase the numbers of our soldiers and weaponry to enhance our military capabilities.
Works Cited
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