Captain Kim must be a bit of an idiot not to notice the fella with the Chinese surname in his squad.

How so?

My best mate has to go back to Korea for 3 year to serve time in the army, despite have made business connections and job offers over here.

If he doesn’t comply he can no longer return to South Korea and is no longer deemed a Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Use google next time.

*a citizen of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

Pat, you’ve mixed up the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) with the Republic of Korea (South Korea).

My bad he is from the Republic of Korea(we usually refer to it a good Korea)… but what I said still applies to the mandatory time he will need to serve in south korea in the armed forces.

The problem is Pat, that his reasons for not severing in the armed forces seem to be selfish and financial rather then moral, I’d look on it as not paying your taxes, skipping county and then expecting to be allowed to return without penalty.
He could chose to do civil service instead and it only lasts as long as serving in the air force and is only three months longer then serving in the army or marines.

I’d normally source from something more reliable than wikipedia, but : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_service#South_Korea

Its two years, most are ok with it. They do be expecting it from a young age so your friend knew it was coming. Many koreans are proud that they serve there country. Source my korean friend.

Its not uncommon to hear of people cutting off limbs to get out of duty in Korea. Many more see it as a pointless, the reason why the have this obligatory time in the army is due to the on going hostilities with North Korea. The Korea War has technically never ended, even though there has been a cease fire for decades.