Pop idol Rain and top-actress Kim Tae-hee are two of Korea’s most sought-after young talents. It’s little wonder then that news they’ve been dating each other over the past three months made front-page headlines. The only problem was Rain (aka Jung Ji-hoon) is on the active list, which means he has to be in barracks and on military bases for up to 350 days a year.
Rain is different because he is an ``entertainment soldier,” who can leave military premises frequently to give performances and attend practices. But Jung differentiated himself from others doing mandatory military service perhaps a little too much. He spent nearly 100 days outside, one for every five days of his 500-day army life so far.
Defense ministry officials belatedly said that Jung’s case is not so extreme, and that they will discipline him for four minor violations ― three unwarranted meetings with his date and one failure to put on his military beret.
Such an easygoing attitude on the part of his superiors explains why these soldiers with special functions are increasingly on the lips of people, including those of their ordinary status fellow servicemen. So much so that Psy, who became a global star last year with his ``Gangnam Style” rap-dance video, had to do his military service twice amid complaints that he’d neglected his duties.
Military authorities say entertainment solders are necessary for the morale of troops. We doubt this.
The success of the conscription system lies in equal, non-discriminatory treatment of members. If Rain could meet with Kim on Christmas Eve while others had to spend the night guarding frontier posts or shoveling snow, will troop morale really go up? The importance of the entertainment unit itself is debatable too, given that most civilians don’t watch stars perform live but only on TV in pre-recorded performances.
When rock and roll legend Elvis Presley served as a private in Germany for two years in the late 1950s, he did so exactly like his colleagues and was given an ecstatic welcome home by his fans.
Our troops don’t need entertainment soldiers, much less their aberrations.