Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Shin-Soo Choo free of South Korean military obligation

Shin-Soo Choo who is an outfielder for the Cleveland Indians was recently told by the military of South Korea that he no longer has to meet his requirement to serve in the military.In South Korea, every citizen has to serve 2 years in the military before age 30, but Choo, 28 was exempt from this due to him helping his country win the gold medal in the Asian Games.

This relates to what we've been reading because race and social class play an integral role in sports. Choo was willing to accept the countries rules and serve in the military, taking two years off of baseball because of his allegiance to the country of South Korea and not wanting to give up his citizenship. Also, even though Choo was playing baseball internationally and giving the country one of the few star players overseas, that was not enough to exempt him from his military service. It wasn't until he helped his own country win a medal that the decided to waive his obligation. It would be interesting to see what would have happened, had South Korea had lost and received the silver medal in the Asian Games.


Levi L.
kin 332I.S3200

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