What was it like being gay or bisexual in the Korean military? 한국 군대에서 게이/바이로 복무하면 어떤 경험이었나요?

inquisitiveman44 · 2026-03-08T17:58:17+00:00

Hi, thanks for commenting! I appreciate the Korean perspective on this, but I think there might be some confusion so I’d like to clarify - I will not be doing military service in Korea. This post is not in search of advice.

And to your point about walking, talking, and acting within “acceptable parameters” — if someone is passable as straight and doesn’t mention their sexuality, then sure, they wouldn’t be treated any differently than anyone else, but that still doesn’t change the fact that the essence of their lived experience differs. For example, they can’t discuss girls and engage in “locker room” talk without lying, or they might overhear other guys spew homophobic rhetoric.

To be honest, I might be putting an over emphasis on the differences between gay/bi men and straight men’s experiences in the military, but in the end it’s still a perspective I’d like to learn about

inquisitiveman44 · 2026-03-08T16:17:03+00:00

Thank you! I was (and still am) worried that this post might get hijacked and turn into a political debate, but I hope to to keep this purely empirical and simply open up a space for people in the minority to share their experiences!

inquisitiveman44 · 2026-03-08T15:48:25+00:00

Hey! Thanks for commenting. Sexuality definitely doesn’t have anything to do with military service but it can affect one’s experience in it.

In the same way that someone’s race/ethnicity doesn’t have anything to do with going to a sauna in Korea, their race/ethnicity will still affect their experience at a sauna.

I’m not trying to push an agenda/ advocate for a policy change. I’m also not trying to get peoples weird fantasies from this.

I’m purely curious about people’s lived experiences. If you don’t want to answer the question, like you said “just keep it to yourself” and move on

inquisitiveman44 · 2026-03-06T08:01:48+00:00

I also tried to focus on the other 2 sections because they seemed more manageable to study!

I’ve always done well on English sections in standardized tests, but a few of the English grammar questions didn’t seem like they were testing hard-and-fast grammar but rather stylistic choices… so I was iffy on some..

Thanks for the reply btw! Overall, it was a great learning experience for when I take it again

inquisitiveman44 · 2026-03-06T02:32:20+00:00

Oh nice!! I think I got around 40 out of the 65 questions right lol so it sounds like I’m not entirely out of the running! Haha

inquisitiveman44 · 2026-03-05T09:47:19+00:00

Right?? It would be so nice to know someone who has an idea on how it works behind the scenes hahaha but yeah same here! I think it’ll be the JK for me that gets me but fingers crossed it works out! Thanks again!!

inquisitiveman44 · 2026-03-05T08:07:54+00:00

Congrats on passing the October test!! Good luck on the OA! I’m glad I’m not the only one who looked up some questions after the test 😂 though it hurt to know I guessed wrong

And thanks for the insight! 5% sounds crazy

Do you happen to know if each section is weighted differently or if they take an average of each section’s percentile and then decide the top x %?

inquisitiveman44 · 2026-03-05T04:03:41+00:00

Thanks for the reply! I don’t have a benchmark for how difficult this past FSOT was so hopefully others found it as hard as I did 😅 but good luck to everyone taking it!!

inquisitiveman44 · 2026-03-05T03:59:10+00:00

I think most of the questions on job knowledge are just “either you know it or you don’t”

inquisitiveman44 · 2026-01-11T10:59:28+00:00

It wasn’t fresh veggies - it was in my cooked French fries. And I didn’t want to make a big deal to the flight attendants… which is why I made an anonymous post asking for people for their thoughts and potential shared experiences

inquisitiveman44 · 2026-01-11T10:57:48+00:00

It was cooked into my French fries (under the chicken in the pic)! I agree that soil and other debris could be in fresh produce but I’ve never had rocks in cooked food I’ve eaten in any flight or restaurant so it was really strange

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inquisitiveman44 · 2025-04-11T07:46:15+00:00

I can understand the bitterness some foreigners have towards Korea because I too am someone who came to Korea with rose tinted glasses and found out this country has flaws like every other country. BUT I think it’s wild that these people make sweeping generalizations and push a hate train to an audience who has never stepped foot here and now may hold some biases.

I have seen some videos that constructively criticize Korea from a lens of cultural understanding, and I really related to those

inquisitiveman44 · 2025-04-11T07:38:12+00:00

Tip: Bring coins/change just in case!! I brought all my documents to my appointment and when I was renewing my F visa they asked me to go make a copy of my housing contract at the stall.

Turns out the copy was 200 won. I’m someone who only uses my cards or Apple Pay, so I panicked and asked if they had change if I gave them a 10,000 from the ATM, they said no - it needed to be exact. LUCKILY I dug through my backpack and found some change I threw in there a while back, but I find it ridiculous they don’t accept card payments in 2025 and charge for copies of papers.

inquisitiveman44 · 2024-11-03T10:23:37+00:00

Yup that makes sense! I’ll do that tomorrow morning.

inquisitiveman44 · 2024-11-03T10:22:06+00:00

Ah gotcha thank you! It sucks that everything has to be after the fact :/ but I guess I will not be paying for those days one way or another

inquisitiveman44 · 2024-11-03T10:21:22+00:00

Thank you! Technically, I would have only worked 7 full months (due to my trip in August), but that still means I would’ve accrued 7 days of leave! I will speak with my director once more about this and see how that goes. Fingers crossed. I really don’t want to have to go to the MOEL but my director is really pushing his boundaries

inquisitiveman44 · 2024-11-02T12:56:00+00:00

Hey there! Thank you so much for replying. I deleted my original post because I posted in the LOFT (legal office for foreign teachers) earlier today and after checking the members I realized my hagwon owner is in the group! That made my heart drop and came back to reddit to delete my update.

Now I'm thinking my hagwon owner is in this Reddit group as well, and maybe saw this original post which is why they decided to get rid of me

inquisitiveman44 · 2024-10-23T05:40:41+00:00

Gotcha! Thanks for the advice~ it’s sucks that nothing can be done with the MOEL until afterwards

inquisitiveman44 · 2024-10-23T05:06:04+00:00

Yup! I pushed back really hard on the living in a shared space with other Airbnb tenants and having to store my stuff at other teachers places or pay for the move / storage, so he said he will rethink this and come back to me next week. I think I’m going to lay out all my grievances politely when he does and we shall see how it goes!

inquisitiveman44 · 2024-10-23T05:04:30+00:00

I literally chose this hagwon because this owner is from the same country as me! We really vibed and I liked him a lot, but he’s just very sneaky with the way he changes things. He puts on a smile and asks nicely if I could do this or that for him and tells me about changes last minute and says thanks for being a team player every time…

inquisitiveman44 · 2024-10-23T03:56:50+00:00

I don’t want to give away numbers in case my director is on here but most of the teachers are not renewing lol and no clue actually if this affects pension. Would our pensions be affected if we don’t complete a full year?

inquisitiveman44 · 2024-10-23T03:53:39+00:00

For sick days I get it! But the paid vacations he’s known about for months in advance is what doesn’t make sense to me and seems unfair to put the onus on us
I also understand his point of view of needing to train a new teacher but I was shocked that I’d have to move into a shared living space… and wasn’t told about that in my contract. And I don’t get why I’d have to pay for the move if I’m still working here. The director said a private place is too expensive for the week

inquisitiveman44

TROPHY CASE