Even Getting Into the Military Is Competitive in South Korea

It’s widely known that cut-throat competition is the norm of South Korean life. There are hagwons, or private cram schools, for children even in kindergarten. So it’s not surprising that hagwons exist also for those who are about to start their mandatory military service. Young South Korean men fervently study English and Korean history, and even donate blood … just to get into the military. The right kind of the military, that is. Every “able-bodied” South Korean man older than 18 is subject