PLEASE DON’T GOOOOO!!!!! ANY OF YOU!!

For those of you who are new to the Korean drama entertainment world, or the life of Korean guys in general, South Korea has a mandatory 2 year military service requirement for ALL Korean men.

Now, there are exemptions out there, but they are rare (like for example, being extremely overweight). And if you do manage to avoid military service as a Korean male celebrity, consequences usually follow from the government here. For example, there was a man named Steve Seungjun Yoo who was a super popular rapper and entertainer in Korea in the late 1990s and into the beginning of the 2000s. However, to avoid military service, he became a US citizen, and was consequently banned permanently from Korea for life.

Depending on what type of military service they do, they can actually go for a slightly shorter period of time, or a longer period of time. But regardless, for the Korean entertainment world, when you have that much limelight, even if you can make some of the exemptions, you stand to lose much of your popularity if you don’t go.

Then again, you can ALSO lose your popularity by entering the military because 2 years is a long time to be away from the industry. Take the example of Rain, who recently returned from the military. He was arguably the most popular Korean singer/actor upon entering the military in 2011. It was a big ‘to do’ when he entered, making sure to hold a public appearance to let the Korean general public know that he was in fact enlisting.

With all that being said, this video is for comedic and entertainment purposes only. Both Richard and I both fully understand the importance of military service and doing your duty to family and country. Following the rules is very important, if not the most important these days in the world. We would never want to imply that any of these men, or anyone for that matter, break the rules and not enter the military. We are thankful for all the military soldiers that do their duty and help make this a safe pace to live in. We wouldn’t be here without them.

I still, however, am not looking forward to the year or two years (or many uyears for that matter since they will all not probably enter at the same time) that I will have to spend without my favorite ‘Oppas’ in the Korean entertainment world.

And that’s why I made this video. Hope you enjoy it! ☺