Joining the ROK Army

S

sml7285

New Member
I'm a ROK/US dual citizen who is moving to South Korea in June to enlist in the South Korean Army (Long story short, I have an absolutely incredible job lined up waiting when I get out) to fulfill my mandatory two year enlistment.

I was wondering if any of you guys are familiar with the ROK Army's workings and can tell me how the process works for deployment selections to Afghanistan and to Lebanon.
 
If the ROK Army still has the Korean Augumentee to the US Army (KATUSA) program I highly recommend you try to get into it. You will be serving with a US unit and I would think you, as a dual citizen, would be an asset to both countries.
 
muscogeemike said:
If the ROK Army still has the Korean Augumentee to the US Army (KATUSA) program I highly recommend you try to get into it. You will be serving with a US unit and I would think you, as a dual citizen, would be an asset to both countries.
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I've already looked into KATUSA and unfortunately, there's a very low acceptance rate (15% give or take done by "lottery") and there's only one application period each year. I'm taking a month long internship in June and I don't think I could wait around for 6 months to apply for something that I have about a 1 in 8 shot of getting into (I've already been told that I can't get preferential entry even though I'm fluent in English and advanced/conversational in Korean).

Being able to serve the US as well as ROK is something that I've been looking into for a long time. I've wanted to work in Korea for a few years now but somehow serve in the US military for my service. Unfortunately, my request to serve in the US Air Force or Navy as an officer in Korea and have that fulfill my Korean military obligation was understandingly denied by the folks in Korea.

Which is why I'm looking to try and get an overseas deployment to Afghanistan or Lebanon. Both areas are placesthat the US has a vested interest in (Afghanistan is self-explanatory; Lebanon/Israel are still working out their issues and I'd be there as a Blue Helmet) and I feel that by being deployed to either place, I would somehow be being patriotic to the nation I was born and have lived for 23 years as well as the nation of my blood.

That being said, Korea has a limited number of troops in each country (about 300 in each) and I'm trying to work towards maximizing my chances for an overseas deployment and I guess the main question I have at this point is what MOSs are in highest demand for overseas deployment in the ROK Army (I know this is a very specific question and one that no one here may have the answer to)?
 
Yes I PMed him about me not knowing the procedure for RoK Army applicants under the rank of staff sergeant. The army has a very different policy when it comes to overseas deployments than the Marines. As for MOS, you can volunteer for some of them. I think interpreter may be one of those few. However because there are basically an unlimited number of candidates and very few slots, you are not very likely to get one. If you really feel strongly about going, you can test for special forces. Then your odds go up considerably. But that is a 4 year contract minimum.
 
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