[KS] Choson Annals (26): Yangban Evaded Military Service

[Frank M. Tedesco]

>               [Click Into the Hermit Kingdom (26)]
>               Yangban Evaded Military Service              [Image] [Ima=
ge]
>               [Image]
>               07/27(=BF=F9) 14:53
> =

>               By Yang Sung-jin
> =

>               Staff Reporter
> =

>               The prosecution wrapped up its month-long investigation i=
nto
>               a massive conscription scandal masterminded by Warrant
>               Officer Won Yong-su last Thursday. The probe led to the
>               conviction of 117 of Won's clients on bribery charges.
>               Disappointingly, about 90 percent of the bribe-givers wer=
e
>               rich and powerful, lending credence to the widespread rum=
or
>               that only the have-nots shoulder the burden of completing=
 the
>               26-month-long military service.
> =

>               During the Choson Dynasty, corrupt practices surrounding =
the
>               compulsory military service were just as bad as they are
>               today. The primary reason, of course, was that it was a
>               painful burden to serve as a soldier.
> =

>               Anyone from 16 to 60 could be required to defend the nati=
on
>               by serving in the military and the government offered no
>               payment to servicemen. Worse, draftees were required to
>               prepare weapons and military attire at their own expense =
in
>               order to avoid punishment.
> =

>               In the Annals of the Choson Dynasty, a document dated in =
1657
>               states that, ``If a soldier's military equipment is not
>               well-kept or his attire is not
> =

>               clean, his supervisors may slap the soldier in question
>               immediately. That is why some draftees sell their cows,
>               horses, or even rice paddies to procure proper military
>               equipment.''
> =

>               Officially, even the yangban class was required to serve =
in
>               the military. Units such as ``kap-sa,'' ``pyolsi-wi,''
>               ``naekum-wi'' were set up for these members of the upper
>               class. In a stratified society where inborn privilege was=

>               regarded highly, this kind of special treatment for those=

>               yangban willing to pick up the sword was more than
>               understandable. So, these selected yangbans, though their=

>               number as a proportion of the whole army was negligible, =
were
>               given the titles of public officials in the military.
> =

>               The universal law of the earlier Choson period, which
>               dictated that all citizens had to fulfill their military
>               duty, had exceptions. Notably, the Confucian principles o=
f
>               filial piety and chastity became a yardstick for deciding=

>               legitimate military exemptions.
> =

>               For instance, those who had disabled parents were exclude=
d
>               from military service so that they could fulfill their fi=
lial
>               duties, a norm vigorously championed throughout the Choso=
n
>               Dynasty. And if parents were older than 70, one of their =
sons
>               eligible for conscription was exempted so that he could t=
ake
>               care of them.
> =

>               Confucian Ticket to Exemption
> =

>               Cho Tok-rin was exempted from military service in 1398. H=
is
>               mother, widowed at 19, refused to re-marry and remained
>               single for some 60 years. The government honored her devo=
tion
>               by saving her son from military duty.
> =

>               Buddhist monks were also entitled to exemption from milit=
ary
>               service. In 1482, official Lee Koh reported to the king:
>               ``Commoners are excluded from military duty only when the=
y
>               reach the age of 60. But monk candidates have to work for=

>               government construction projects only 20 days to get a
>               Buddhist monk's license, which gives them lifetime
>               exemptions. This is very unfair.''
> =

>               Interestingly, hawk hunters were criticized as draft dodg=
ers
>               in 1420. This group of people, called ``sipachi,'' always=

>               closely followed the king on a hawk hunt. Therefore, they=

>               were freed not only from the necessity of serving in the
>               military, but also from other miscellaneous duties. Later=
,
>               those who wanted to evade the draft increasingly gained t=
he
>               status of special hawk hunters. As a result, some sipachi=

>               lacked the basic skills to deal effectively with hawks.
> =

>               After being briefed on this corrupt practice, King Sejong=

>               ordered each province to more strictly enforce the
>               qualifications of the sipachi sent to the palace and to i=
ssue
>               licenses in order to eliminate this practice. The Annals =
say
>               that the king's move uncovered hundreds of fake sipachi.
> =

>               A riskier way of escaping military service compared with =
the
>               hawk hunting subterfuge was to take on the job of capturi=
ng
>               tigers. In 1680, the city of Onsong's governor Yun Yi fil=
ed
>               an appeal to the king: ``The northern Yukchin frontline a=
rea
>               has long suffered from tiger attacks. The reason seems to=
 lie
>               with the absence of a law awarding those who capture tige=
rs.
>               Commoners who seize tigers should be exempted from their
>               military duty and yangban literati who achieve the same f=
eat
>               should be appointed as local military chieftains.''
> =

>               The military conscription system began to come apart at t=
he
>               seams despite government-initiated efforts to maintain it=
=2E
>               Particularly in the second half of the Choson Dynasty,
>               military conscription was not so much about ``honorable''=

>               national defense as it was concerned with ``shameful''
>               national taxation.
> =

>               The underlying reason for this was that the yangban class=

>               began to refuse outright to complete their military dutie=
s.
>               Originally, only incumbent government officials, Sunkyunk=
wan
>               students and retired high-ranking government officials we=
re
>               exempt. But as the order of the class society disintegrat=
ed,
>               some wealthy commoners bought yangban identifications in
>               order to evade military service and the number of self-st=
yled
>               yangban claiming the right to exemption skyrocketed.
> =

>               Oh-So-Honorable Yangban
> =

>               Even in the earlier period, there was an exemption-buying=

>               practice called ``tae-rip,'' which simply means paying
>               somebody else to do the job. It started with the wealthy
>               merchants who did not want their military duties to inter=
fere
>               with their businesses. Later, high-ranking officials in
>               charge of recruitment saw a potential cash cow in the
>               practice and openly asked for a portion of the money as a=

>               condition to keep mum about the illegal act.
> =

>               As a result, a group of brokers specializing in providing=

>               ``substitute soldiers'' sprang up, causing the corrupt
>               practice to mushroom further. On the other hand, in remot=
e
>               local areas, military exemptions in return for money in t=
he
>               name of a ``military tax'' were widespread, thus shaking =
up
>               the conscription system.
> =

>               Eventually, the government used the compulsory military
>               system as a way to raise tax revenues, not as a means to
>               maintain its national defense. Of course, the yangban cla=
ss
>               was safely exempted from this tax, as well.
> =

>               In 1824, minister Shim Sang-kyu filed a long appeal to th=
e
>               king concerning the deplorable draft-related corruption:
>               ``Most of the so-called wealthy and clever are dodging th=
eir
>               military duties. People are citing all sorts of excuses
>               related to their employment at government office or trans=
port
>               stations or their enrollment in private schools, as long =
as
>               they can escape from conscription. Only the poorest are
>               chosen for service, and they also have to bear the burden=
 of
>               the military tax.''
> =

>               The result of the government's change in priorities was
>               devastating. Government officials levied the military tax=

>               upon powerless commoners in order to add to their own wea=
lth,
>               thus deepening the corruption.
> =

>               In 1797, ``Pibyonsa'' (the Border Defense Council) report=
ed
>               to the king: ``These days, people are increasingly making=

>               efforts to avoid military duty and tax. Some falsify thei=
r
>               ages, and some of them forge documents so that they are
>               classified as dead.''
> =

>               Even the dead were counted for the taxation, however.
>               Moreover, children were also classified as eligible for t=
he
>               military duty as the officials tried to squeeze more mone=
y
>               out of the commoners.
> =

>               With regard to the military tax, if one failed to pay his=

>               due, other family members had to pay instead. If there wa=
s no
>               one left in the family, relatives or neighbors had to bea=
r
>               the burden, which often generated a large-scale migration=
 of
>               people in search of a safer place.
> =

>               While the commoners suffered from both the obligation to
>               fulfill their military duty and heavy taxation, the yangb=
an
>               class fervently refused to share the burden.
> =

>               It was only in 1871 that the yangban was officially requi=
red
>               by law to pay the military tax along with the commoners, =
a
>               belated fence-mending gesture by the government.
> =

>               One other belated fence-mending gesture occurred last Mon=
day,
>               when the Military Manpower Administration (MMA) proposed =
a
>               new law which would award draftees and punish draft dodge=
rs.
>               Yes, it is the very MMA in which Warrant Officer Won Yong=
-su
>               served while brokering draft exemptions for the rich and
>               powerful over the past 10 years.
> =

>            ------------------------------------------------------------=
--------
>                            (C) COPYRIGHT 1998 THE HANKOOKILBO
Http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/14_6/9807/t4651329.htm


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