Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
March 16, 2006
Koreans Celebrate

There's a story going around that members of the South Korean team will be exempted from military service due to their success in the World Baseball Classic. That's not a done deal, but it looks like it's going to happen:

South Korea is expected to exempt its national team baseball players from compulsory military service after a series of stunning victories in the World Baseball Classic that sparked an outpouring of patriotism.

All South Korean men over 20 without major mental or physical problems are obligated to undergo military service of at least two years, a legacy of the country`s decades-long military confrontation with North Korea.

Public calls for rewarding young baseball players with an exemption mounted on Thursday after their team secured a berth in the semifinals of the inaugural 16-nation tournament by beating the Japanese 2-1 and humbling the Americans 7-3. South Korea remains the only unbeaten team in the tournament, with a 6-0 record.

Thanks to Conductor for the link.

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Posted by David Pinto at 01:29 PM | World Cup | TrackBack (0)
Comments

re: south korean exempt from military

Probably everyone knows this, but the South Korean Military is a ferocious fighting force. Their military is reputed to be trained not only in military tactics and basic training, but also in the deadly martial arts and a South Korean Soldier can allegedly with his bare hands kill a man. The so called "Rock" Divisions of the South Korean military, equivalent to our Green Berets, are especially well trained in the martial arts and each of these men can, with their bare hands, eliminate entire squadrons of the enemy due to their black belt training in south korean martial arts.

while these athletes might be exempt from military service, don't be surprised if they've all had a bundle of martial arts training from the military or from senseis back home. Aside from the kara-te masters of Japan, the South Koreans possess some of the deadliest and most intensive martial arts knowledge in the world. Applied to athletics, it's a lot more useful than all the steroids in the world combined.

--Arthur John Kyriazis
--Philly

Posted by: arthur john kyriazis at March 16, 2006 03:12 PM

South Korea and North Korea are still in a state of war with one another. The ironically titled demilitirized zone is lined up on both sides along the entire border with tanks and soldiers staring at eachother 24/7...oh and both nations have nukes...

Posted by: tony flynn at March 16, 2006 10:39 PM
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