SEOUL: “You just don’t get it; you’ve never served.”

Most South Korean women probably have heard this line. It speaks to a core gender divide here — between men, who serve two years’ mandatory military service called “gundae”, and women, who don’t. That men and women will always be different.

Military service is required for most men between 18 and 35, and they often serve during college or as they launch their careers. It’s a formative experience, but only for half the population.

As the nuclear threat from North Korea looms larger than ever, South Koreans are soberly evaluating their country’s military readiness.

That may be why a recent anonymous petition requesting President Moon Jae-in’s administration to expand the draft to women went viral online, sparking debate over whether requiring women to serve would make the country more prepared — and more equal.

“We need to fight together, men and women,” said Kim Hee-jung, a 16-year-old student at Yale Girls’ High School in Seoul. “There are many problems with gender inequality, the expectation that men go to the military and women give birth. We should be able to fight, throw grenades. If there’s a war, we can’t just stay home and live in fear.”

Second-most popular petition

The presidential petition system was launched last month to mark Moon’s 100th day in office. Thousands of petitions have been filed since then, and most of them don’t break 1,000 signatures. The topics can get personal, from complaints about a neighbourhood dispute to the performance of South Korea’s soccer team in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

But the petition to draft women for the military garnered 70,000 signatures within three days, and by the time it reached its Sept 14 deadline, 123,204 people had supported it. It now ranks as the second-most popular petition to the Blue House, Korea’s executive mansion.

The petition reads more like a rant than a cogent policy proposal. “Currently, our country is confronting North Korea, which is surrounded by large powers like China. So we inevitably have to keep the draft, yet it is only imposed on men,” it says.

“Feminists argue women have the same or even better abilities than men ... Shouldn’t that mean women, like men, should serve the country and receive the same compensation and benefits from the government? ... Of course, I do not see that this will happen immediately, but I believe the government must pursue this change as soon as possible.”

Moon wants to reduce the length of mandatory service, so it’s unlikely he would make a policy change to expand the requirement. At a recent administration meeting, Moon noted the popularity of the petition and called it an “interesting issue”.

Still, the petition appears to resonate amid the growing nuclear threat from the North.

Oh So-hyun, 22-year-old student at Sogang University, said women lack a basic understanding of the country’s military and defence system because the draft only applies to men. She wants to see it expanded to women, but said the training needs to be adjusted for the physical differences between men and women.

“Until now, Korean men have been trained to carry out military duties. Women, on the other hand, have very limited basic knowledge about military affairs and how to cope with wars,” Oh said. “It’s necessary for Korean women to learn about and carry out the duty of national defence.”

Women serve as officers in the South Korean military, comprising about six per cent. They do not serve as ordinary soldiers.

Claudia Ryu, 35, served in the South Korean Navy for eight years. She studied international conflict analysis in graduate school, and wanted firsthand knowledge about her country’s military.

Ryu said expanding the draft to women is crucial to achieving gender equality in South Korea. She added women should be allowed to serve at the combat level, to make the military itself more fair.

“Because the mandatory service is only for men, men tend to look down on women in the society. They say, ‘You don’t understand how society operates because you have never served in the military,’ and that is the default line,” Ryu said.

“I never experienced that, because I say: ‘Hey, I was in the military for eight years.’ And they say, ‘Oh.’ They can never say those things to me, because they know they can’t just dismiss me like that ... We should be given the same opportunity, same rights and same obligations in society.”

‘Worsen the larger issue’

Not everyone agrees. Some, noting that women already have the option to serve in the military, say they don’t see an urgent need to make it mandatory. Others wondered how much it would cost taxpayers to expand the draft, and whether it would lead to more sexual harassment or discrimination within the military.

“It’s not that women can’t fight, or that it’s only up to them to raise children, but if every young person has to fight in a war, will our society only be left with older adults and children?” said Kim Hee-youn, 18, another student at the girls’ high school. “I wonder if women who are fit enough to fight in war should instead be tasked to protect children, rather than leaving them with the elderly.”

Kim Ji-hyun, a 24-year-old senior at Korea University, joined the service at 21 and was discharged last year. He opposes the idea of expanding the draft to women, saying it’s not a solution to underlying gender inequality in the country — from either the female or male perspective.

“Gender inequality in the society is profound,” he said, pointing to the gender pay gap in South Korea, which lags behind most countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

“I served in the military for two years. At first, I felt like I was deprived of my precious two years in my twenties. But I don’t think we should be compensated by having women serve in the military,” he said. “We can’t achieve equality for both sides simply by that measure. It will only worsen the larger issue.”

By arrangement with The Washington Post

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2017