Comments on: A soldier’s pay

By: wulijohyunjae

wulijohyunjae — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 22:50:50 +0000

FYI — the following is from the web (2008 statistics):
Out of a population of nearly 50m, S. Korea has 687,000 active military personnel and 4.5m active military reserve. (Would JHJ be considered “active military reserve” after his discharge?)
This compares with N. Korea’s 1.2m armed personnel and 7m reserve.

By: michelle

michelle — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 13:43:55 +0000

Korea has a high porportion of soldiers (400 thousands soldiers out of 40 million Koreans).
I just wonder how the families of the soldiers support themselves. In Korea, men are always the only bread earners. Few women go to work.

I have to thank Cafe and Ever. They love JHJ very much and make the military life of JHJ much easier.

By: prissymom

prissymom — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 07:35:35 +0000

Btw, I love the JHJ the soldier cartoon!

By: Whitney

Whitney — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 05:50:24 +0000

I heard that the pay scale of general office workers in Korea is rather high, why the soldier’s pay is unbelievably low? It’s unreasonable.

By: prissymom

prissymom — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 04:04:25 +0000

No wonder most SK actors opt to join the entertainment unit rather than be a regular soldier! For that kind of pay it is indeed a great sacrifice for an actor to be a regular soldier in the SK army. At least those who are in the entertainment unit get to market themselves for free, their military duties are a lot lighter than regular soldiers, and they are still visible to the public’s eye.

This info just brings home how much of a sacrifice JHJ has made when he decided to be a regular soldier for the entire 22 months of his mandatory MS.

By: wulijohyunjae

wulijohyunjae — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 03:13:54 +0000

FYI – We’ve just obtained the following figures re 2009 military pay scale in Taiwan (in Taiwan $ : 10,000TWD = 308USD)
Private Second Class – 5,890 per month
Private First Class – 6,435
Corporal – 10,780
2nd Lieutenant – 15,545
These are the basic salaries; they have lots of allowances, e.g. for posting to outlying islands.

By: usa4jhj

usa4jhj — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 01:26:31 +0000

i guess a soldier can live on that since most everything else is provided by the government. I wonder if the family gets some kind of support when the main provider is serving in the military.

By: Ruby

Ruby — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 01:03:39 +0000

Now I know why CAFE and EVER are always sending JHJ and his fellow soldiers those snacks (cookies and chips, etc.) and even tissue paper! Makes me appreciate their TLC all the more.

By: wulijohyunjae

wulijohyunjae — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 00:19:29 +0000

We just looked up on the web the pay for American soldiers – “2010 Military Pay Scale Chart (Monthly Basic Pay Table – effective Jan.1, 2010):
Lowest: US$1,447 (for soldiers with cumulative service of 2 or fewer years)
Highest: US$16,132 (more than 26 years)
But the comparison is unrealistic and therefore meaningless — just give you some idea.

Does anyone know anything about the military pay scales of other Asian countries? Perhaps you have a husband, a brother, a son who has done his MS?

By: Mariah

Mariah — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 23:52:06 +0000

Being a soldier is not an ordinary job. It is your duty to your country (in countries where military service is mandatory), and you are expected to make sacrifices when you are serving your country.

By: wulijohyunjae

wulijohyunjae — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 23:19:18 +0000

No, usa4jhj, the figures are accurate. That’s why we said we were shocked. Not a livable wage by western standards, but that’s the reality in the Korean military. But don’t forget the soldiers receive free board and lodging, and they don’t really have much time to spend money during their military service. We just don’t know how they support their family.

By: usa4jhj

usa4jhj — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 23:12:21 +0000

I think maybe you left a zero out on the monthly salary? No way a person can live on less then US $100 per month. Not even in Korea …