Yoo Seung Joon gets on hands and knees toapologize for evading military service
On May 19, Yoo Seung Joon (now known as SteveYoo) revealed his side of the story onhis military evasion controversy as well as the rumors surrounding itafter 13 years of silence.
Currently, the former Korean popstar is known to be one of the biggest disappointments in Korean entertainmenthistory and is receiving harsh criticism from Koreans to this day.During the detailed interview via AfreecaTV,Yoo Seung Joon addressed his long overdue apology for his past decisionsand spoke in detail about the controversy surrounding his military evasion.
In the beginning of the airing, YooSeung Joon introduces himself again for the first time in 13 years and says,"First, I should greet thepeople. Hello everyone, this is singer Yoo Seung Joon. The reason I am kneelingin front of you is I don't think that I would be able to fully articulatemy feelings, so I wanted to show my apologies.
Thiswon't be a place where I confess my feelings I just wanted to apologize for mywrongdoings to everyone [watching]. Minister of Justice, Director of MilitaryAffairs, Head of Immigration Management, and to those who are currently servingin the military, I came on here today because I wanted to apologize for causinga public disturbance and disappointing everyone."
When he was asked why he finallydecided after 13 years to open up, Yoo Seung Joon answered, "I didn't have the courage. I wasn't ready,either. I came out after realizing that everything was my fault. Even untillast year, my pride didn't allow me. I was the one who made the mistake, but Ifelt that I was the one who had been wronged."
The former Korean pop star thenaddressed the rumors that stated that the only reason Yoo Seung Joon isapologizing now is he is struggling financially. Yoo Seung Joon stronglyobjected and said, "Since I was20 years old, I was the one who supported my family. And within the five years I've debuted inChina, I've appeared in 14 movies and filmed in a 60-episode drama. If I saythat I have a lot of money now.... It's definitely not because of money. Eventoday, I can't step inside Korea because my name is listed on the prohibitionof entry list. From what I know, I am on the same list as political offendersand political prisoners like OsamaBin Laden."
Yoo Seung Joon continued, "I was healthy and I liked living in a group,so I had no bad feelings about the military, and my father had even said that Ihad to enlist. Even when I was young, I thought that going to themilitary was mandatory."
However, Yoo Seung Joon revealed during the interviewthat he was persuaded by his parents who were in America at the time and hadfelt conflicted because of his contract with his agency. He said, "At the time a large amount of money gotpassed around just with my signature. I was really arrogant. I was busy andlacking. I wasn't mature enough.
Ididn't have plans to obtain American citizenship nor did I lie about it. Myfather was the one who had filed for citizenship. I refused until the end. Atthe time, I didn't go to the citizenship interview so that I could go to themilitary. And it was after the 9/11 attack, so it was when it was hard toreissue citizenship. At the time, I was going to Japan for a performance whenthe date for my interview came out and my father was the one who persuaded meto take it."
Throughout the interview, YooSeung Joon expressed that he would definitely enlist in the military if hecould turn back time, and revealed that he even made an attempt to enlist inthe Korean military last year, but couldn't because of his age. He is currently39 years old in Korea and according to Korean law, men who are above the age of38 cannot enlist.
Lastly, the singer stated thathe would do anything, include giving up his American citizenship, to be able toconfidently step back into Korea with his children.
Article Source: http://www.allkpop.com/article/2015/05/yoo-seung-joon-gets-on-hands-and-knees-to-apologize-for-evading-military-service
Image Source: http://news.asiaone.com/sites/default/files/styles/full_left_image-630x411/public/original_images/May2015/20150513_yooseungjoon_weibocopy.jpg?itok=rtxSvh0q
VOCABULARY WORDS:
1. Evasion (n.) ~ theaction of avoiding something
2. Harsh (adj.) ~ severe or cruel
3. Overdue (adj.) ~ having been neededfor sometime
4. Articulate(adj.) ~ having or showing the ability to speak fluently
5. Enlist(v.) ~ enroll or be enrolled in the armed services
6. Mandatory(adj.) ~ required by law or rules
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. Whyis it mandatory for Korean men to enlist in military service?
2. Arethere any exemptions on fulfilling military service? What are those?
3. SteveYoo was blacklisted from coming back to Korea when he failed to enlist for thearmy. Is this common for people who refused to enlist in the military? Discussyour answer.
4. Thereare some people suggesting that women should also be required to do militaryservice. What is your stand on this?
