PFC Park Ju-won, 31, recalls the day he suited up to serve as a private second class in the Army. His superior had just scolded him for yawning in front of him.

“I thought to myself, ‘this guy’s far younger than me and he tells me off just because he enlisted a bit earlier?’ These are the moments I have conflicting feelings (about the military),” he said.

He immediately then thought, he did not even have to join the military.

All able-bodied Korean men are mandated by law to serve in the military for about two years. But for a handful of those who don’t have to, it is a matter of choice.

Park was among those who could become exempt from mandatory service but volunteered to enlist, and his story was featured among others in a book released by the Military Manpower Administrations Thursday.

It is set to be distributed to university libraries and diplomatic missions outside the country to “spread the culture of voluntary enlistment and healthy military culture.”

“We expect the book to be a helpful guide to those about to serve, and inspire those in the force to have pride in themselves,” said an MMA official. 

A role of a mandatory serviceman is not a highly-coveted job in Korea.

An Army sergeant -- the highest rank among enlisted men -- is paid 197,000 ($197) won per month, while a private second class makes 148,800 won.

The legal minimum monthly wage for a 40 hour-a-week job is 1.26 million won.

In addition to small wages, frequent violence and abuse by colleagues is also something the military has been attempting to root out.

Although roughly half of the population are former soldiers, Korean men enjoy little benefit for their mandatory service compared to former soldiers in other countries.

In 1999, the Constitutional Court ruled that the law allowing state-run corporations and government agencies to give extra credit to former servicemen during the hiring process was unconstitutional.

Park could have avoided it all. He was a US green card holder and a tenure-track faculty at the Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York.

While the US green card technically only puts off military duty, those who do not enlist by the age of 37 are automatically exempt from duty. This effectively exempts green card holders living abroad from having to enlist.

“I gave up money, time, opportunities and honor to be a Korean soldier. ... So people always ask me why,” Park said.

He said the military gave him time to study and think about his future. It also gave him a chance to interact, and sometimes put up, with different types of people, contributing to his people skills.

“You live a ‘controlled life’ in the military, but at the same time you learn to control yourself,” Park said. Many people think of time in the military as being wasted, but it can also be used as a turning point. It’s like a ‘halftime’ of your life, when you can plan what to do with the rest of your life.”

Park Hyun-woo, 21, said his life before enlistment had consisted of playing video games, eating and nothing else. Exempted from duty for never going to middle school, he said the sense of fulfillment and the physical challenges he faced as a soldier helped him gain confidence to quit video games and move on with his life.

For those living in Korea, voluntary enlistment can also be a practical choice. As the overwhelming majority of Korean men have served in the military, those who dodge mandatory service are sometimes frowned upon or ostracized by the public.

Political bigwig Lee Hoi-chang was considered a front-runner in both the 1997 and 2002 presidential elections, but both times saw his support fall after allegations that his sons illegally dodged military service was publicized in the media.

A 30-year-old Korean-American, currently working in Seoul, said he elected to serve in the military because he believed it would help him adjust better to Korean life.

“Serving in the military made me understand better what Korean men were like. It helped me fit in once I got a job, since they were impressed with me enlisting when I didn’t have to,” he said.

While it may be unconstitutional to favor those who have completed mandatory military service in hiring, some surveys indicate that companies continue to prefer them.

A survey last year by recruitment website Saramin showed that 85.9 percent of companies prefer hiring those who served in the military. The top reason for it -- 54.5 percent of the companies said so -- was that they believed such a person would be responsible.

Other reasons included being able to fit in, being comfortable with company hierarchy as well as being cooperative and diligent.

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)