NONSAN, South Korea – Kyle Choi, 20, was stuck at home and took online classes. He was determined where he would drive the pandemic out: the military of South Korea.
Mr. Choi, a student in Seoul, hastened his plans to complete his 18-month mandatory service. As an environmental engineering major, Mr. Choi was concerned that virtual learning was not the same as replicating in-class experiments critical to his education. That’s why he volunteered for a boot camp in this central South Korean city at the end of December.
“You have to go,” he said. “Might as well go.”
All over the world, militaries are seeing an upward trend in the number of employment contracts as younger adults seek refuge from a pandemic limiting employment, social life and traditional education. The roll often brings health care benefits such as free virus tests, treatments and vaccines. Social detachment has made some facets of early military life less strenuous.
Canada saw a 37% increase in the number of military candidates in the last nine months of 2020 compared to a year earlier. For the year as a whole, Australia reported an increase of 9.9% from the previous year. The UK met its annual recruitment target for the first time in seven years last spring – and is on track to do so again this year, a government spokeswoman said. The United States military saw about 92% of its eligible personnel re-enlist for the year ended September. Last year’s figure was 83%, a spokeswoman said.