Yoo Seung-min: "Hong Joon-pyo Advocating Conscription Reform After Watching Drama 'D.P.'? This Is Not Right"

'D.P.' Lead Hong Jun-pyo "I was also beaten daily as a reservist... We need to consider an all-volunteer military system"
Yoo Seung-min "We must escape military corruption and violence... but the all-volunteer system is a separate issue"

Former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min, a presidential candidate from the People Power Party. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Hong Joon-pyo, a presidential candidate from the People Power Party, mentioned the drama 'D.P.' depicting harsh military abuse on the 6th and announced that he would consider transitioning to a volunteer military system. In response, his intra-party competitor, former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min, pointed out, "Changing from conscription to a volunteer military is a completely separate issue."

Former lawmaker Yoo posted on his Facebook that afternoon under the title "Are you switching to a volunteer military because of Netflix's D.P.?" saying, "Even if we switch to a volunteer military, we cannot leave the irrationalities and violence within the military as they are."

He said, "Candidate Hong, after watching the Netflix drama D.P., recalled his time in military service and argued for changing conscription to a volunteer military," adding, "I also watched D.P. and thought that our military must quickly escape from absurd irrationalities and violence. Moreover, recent sexual assault cases in the military are criminal acts that cannot be called comrades."

He continued, "President Moon Jae-in advocated for nuclear phase-out after watching the movie 'Pandora,' and now Candidate Hong advocates for a volunteer military after watching the drama D.P.," and directly criticized, "I don't think that's right."

He then said, "We need to change the military. We need to reform the military," and sharpened his point, "If we leave the military as it is and just switch to a volunteer system, does that mean it doesn't matter what happens to those who go to the military?"

Finally, former lawmaker Yoo concluded his post by saying, "There are still more reasons why our country cannot adopt a volunteer military," and "Above all, a volunteer military is neither justice nor fairness."

People Power Party presidential candidate Hong Jun-pyo. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, Hong mentioned the drama D.P. and said, "It is now time to free young people from the burden of conscription."

He stated on Facebook, "I watched D.P. It is a drama about harsh military abuse. Although fictional, it cannot be said that such abuse no longer exists in the military."

He added, "I also experienced 1 year and 6 months of defense service in a military unit. The harsh treatment by senior soldiers was severe even then," recalling, "While commuting to and from the military unit as a defense soldier, I was not treated as a soldier, was beaten daily by seniors, worked all day, and often had to do group exercises with soldiers who had just entered the military discipline training unit."

Hong emphasized, "It is truly heartbreaking that our young people suffer such things in the military, which they joined to protect the country," and "Therefore, I pledged to consider transitioning to a volunteer and support soldier system to build a strong military capable of fighting one against a hundred."

Meanwhile, the drama D.P., released by Netflix on the 27th of last month, deals with the pursuit of deserters by the military police's Deserter Pursuit unit (DP). The drama has been praised for realistically portraying violence and harsh treatment within the military.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.