The popular Netflix series provokes a new debate over South Korean military recruitment

SEOUL, September 14 (Reuters) – A successful Netflix series (NFLX.O) rekindles debate in South Korea over the country’s military massacre, its history of abuse scandals and the mandatory recruitment it fills their ranks of youth.

“DP,” short for Deserter Pursuit, has been one of Netflix’s top shows in South Korea since it premiered in late August.

The series follows military police assigned to capture deserters, which sheds light on the daily lives of many recruits, including the mental and physical abuse of other soldiers.

Director Han Jun-hee said he wanted to tell a humanizing story about how the system makes deserters both victims and criminals, as well as the toll on those who are forced to hunt.

“‘ DP ’is a story of tracing a deserter, but at the same time, it is a paradoxical story of looking for someone’s unfortunate son, brother or lover,” Han told Reuters in an email.

Asked about the show’s popularity, a defense ministry spokesman said the military environment has changed and the ministry has tried to eliminate abuses and harsh treatment.

Last week, the military announced that even before the series came out, it had planned to end the system of having general soldiers track down fellow AWOLs. This change will take effect in July 2022.

South Korea maintains an active military service of 550,000, with 2.7 million troops in reserves, amid decades of tensions with North Korea. All men must serve up to 21 months, depending on the military branch.

South Korea’s military criminal law punishes desertion with up to ten years in prison.

The Ministry of Defense says abuses and desertion among recruits have fallen, in large part due to the 2019 decision to allow enlisted soldiers to use mobile phones in their barracks.

The ministry declined to confirm the exact number of defectors, but South Korean media reported that 55 cases were reported last year, up from 78 in 2019. Military suicide deaths also dropped from 27 to 15 in the same period.

HOT DEBATE

The series landed as the country debated the future of recruitment and the potential for abuse, especially because young men facing weak economic prospects have complained about wasting time in military service that they may have devoted to studies. or works.

In 2018, a Supreme Court ruling first determined that conscientious objection is a valid reason to resign from military service. Last year Parliament passed a bill that allowed K-Pop stars to postpone their military service to 30 years.

The military has been shaken by multiple sexual abuse scandals this year, prompting lawmakers to pass a law that civilian courts will handle sexual abuse and violent crime in the military.

Reaction to the series among previous recruits has been mixed, some say they reflect their experiences, others say their depictions of abuse are excessive and some avoid the program to prevent traumatic memories from resurfacing.

“There’s a scene in DP where they throw combat boots (at the soldier). I went through a lot of similar harassment,” said Ma Joon-bin, who described her move between 2013 and 2014 as “dark times.” “. “Now that I look back, I feel it was unfair, but then it was so common.”

Lee Jun-tae, 24, who served from 2017 to 2019, said he had never experienced or heard of any of his friends being abused during his service.

“There was no harsh treatment during my time,” he said.

Last week, the ruling party’s presidential favorite, Lee Jae-myung, described the stories in the series as South Korea’s “barbaric story”. Opposition party candidate Hong Joon-pyo has said he endured cruelty as a soldier and vowed to consider moving into voluntary military service.

The end of recruitment will not solve all the problems if the wider military culture does not change so well, said popular culture critic Kim Hern-sik, who served as PD

“As long as there is military service, whether compulsory or voluntary, problems are inevitable in one way or another,” Kim said.

Sangmi Cha Reports; Additional reports from Yeni Seo, Daewoung Kim, Dogyun Kim; Edited by Josh Smith and Gerry Doyle

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