"There will be no problem with skin color in joining the Korean military. Once a mixed-race man has Korean nationality and related qualifications, he will be able to serve in the military," said a Korean Defense ministry official recently. This statement followed in the wake of the Korean government’s legislation to allow men of mixed race parentage to enlist in the military.
So what brought about this remarkable pronouncement?
To understand the implications of the statement, we need to look at historical precedent: Till date only ‘Kosians’ or men born of Korean-Asian parentage were conscripted in the Army. Not so “Amerisians’ and ‘Eurasians’ or men born to American-Asian parents and Europe-Asian. They were not allowed to do so or (to put it euphemistical) they were exempted.
Now that is a thing of the past. "The law will take effect Jan. 1 next year," continued the same defense ministry official.
The bill, proposed by Rep. Yoo Seung-min of the governing Grand National Party, and approved by the Korean Government allows Western Mixed-Race men to join the army. This is a landmark legislation whose time has obviously come. But what has kept fair skinned nationals out of the army? Very simply, the major concern has always been that the fair skinned Korean citizenry would have integration problems with their darker skinned brothers-in-arms. However, that feeling has now dissipated and the powers that be in the defense ministry no longer feel that this is an issue.
But having said that, there are still skeptics who point out what the best case scenario would have been, even a few years ago: the general perception would have been that fair-skinned men would quickly learn, that as a minority demographic in the army, it would be in their best interests to integrate and adopt the majority culture – that of the darker skinned Koreans.
Fortunately, this perception has changed, and changed dramatically at that.
"Now is the time for the majority to understand the culture of the minority," said the same official. He further added that to support this development and speed up integration, the government is planning to release educational materials later this year to enable Korean soldiers to better understand the cultures of other nations.
The Korean government plan on implementing other initiatives as well.
To start with, mixed race men will be approached and asked for their views on being conscripted into the army along with Koreans and Kosians. Their feedback will play a significant role in the policy making process regarding mixed race men in the Korean army.
In line with their objective of encouraging integration, the government also plans on sending new enlistees on a five-week pre-service training together.
These initiatives, in tandem with other comprehensive measures, are aimed at preventing any incidents that may be racially motivated while making it easier for men from multicultural, multi-racial families to serve in the military, said the same official.
All in all, a much better situation for everyone concerned.