Military service in Korea has always been an extremely sensitive social issue. Particularly among Korean men, there is a (justifiably) huge sense of sacrifice for devoting two to three years of their prime of youth to serve the country. Few ever enjoy the military, alternately filled with mistreatment(from older ranks and same ranks as well) and boredom. But they all must report. Here's how one guy feels about how the collective experiences of the Korean military can reduced to this image: 
"... gives an idea of what Korean military experience is like. (That pose is called Wonsan pok-gyeok, which translates to "bombing of Wonsan." Wonsan is a port city in North Korea. This punishment is applied liberally for various causes, such as being slow in marching, losing a soccer game, or overcooking sarge's ramen.)"
How preparing for this mandatory duty affects an adolescent male's psychosocial development when others his age in other parts of the world are preparing for adulthood and other goals is an interest of mine lately. It isn't exactly dinner conversation.
Especially not for family members of males in that age who are Jehovah's Witnesses. These men make personal decisions based on teachings,as one puts it, like " 'people will learn war no more’ and to ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’ I also learned that principled love can motivate us to love our enemies. Based on these and other scriptures and as a result of my firm personal convictions, I made the decision to refuse military service.” It isn't to get out of anything. It's strictly a moral decision.
If you're looking for a good small production film, try a South Korean indie film called "Frozen River" about one Korean Conscientious Objector.
The film does a great job of conveying the internal struggles Jehovah's Witnesses, as well as other pacifists, deal with when faced with conflicting attitudes from family members. For an objective director, the motivation of the politically neutral conscientious objector was pretty accurately portrayed. At least I thought so.
Here's an article from Wall Street Journal by Jason Strother that you don't need a login to read.
So I will be going to prison to visit a conscientious objector this Thursday. If you have any questions for him or words to share, comment or better yet, email me.
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