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Dept. of History Samuel C. Chu Memorial Lecture: Seung-kyung Kim, "South Korean Millennials’ Military Service and Neoliberal Calculations"

Seung-kyung Kim Image
September 12, 2019
4:00PM - 6:00PM
Thompson Library Room 165

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Add to Calendar 2019-09-12 16:00:00 2019-09-12 18:00:00 Dept. of History Samuel C. Chu Memorial Lecture: Seung-kyung Kim, "South Korean Millennials’ Military Service and Neoliberal Calculations" OSU's Department of History presents the Samuel C. Chu Memorial Lecture in East Asian Studies with:Seung-kyung KimDepartment of East Asian Languages and CulturesIndiana University Bloomington. A reception will be held at 4:00 p.m. with the lecture following at 4:30 p.m.Title: South Korean Millennials’ Military Service and Neoliberal CalculationsMandatory military service has been an inescapable fact of life for young men in South Korea from the time of the Korean War until the present. It continues to this day, despite the country’s neoliberal transformation that began following the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 and the extension of the neoliberal values of market competition, individual freedom, and meritocracy into all facets of contemporary South Korean life; and despite the contradiction between an ideology of freedom and rational choices, and an institution that obligates men to serve in the military or face imprisonment. Based on interviews with 45 South Korean college students who had recently completed their military service, this study examines how the neoliberal ethos instilled in Korean millennials as they grew up in 21st century guides their decisions and strategies regarding military service.   Thompson Library Room 165 East Asian Studies Center easc@osu.edu America/New_York public

OSU's Department of History presents the Samuel C. Chu Memorial Lecture in East Asian Studies with:

Seung-kyung Kim
Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures
Indiana University Bloomington. 

A reception will be held at 4:00 p.m. with the lecture following at 4:30 p.m.

Title: South Korean Millennials’ Military Service and Neoliberal Calculations

Mandatory military service has been an inescapable fact of life for young men in South Korea from the time of the Korean War until the present. It continues to this day, despite the country’s neoliberal transformation that began following the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 and the extension of the neoliberal values of market competition, individual freedom, and meritocracy into all facets of contemporary South Korean life; and despite the contradiction between an ideology of freedom and rational choices, and an institution that obligates men to serve in the military or face imprisonment. Based on interviews with 45 South Korean college students who had recently completed their military service, this study examines how the neoliberal ethos instilled in Korean millennials as they grew up in 21st century guides their decisions and strategies regarding military service.