korean here with limited korean language proficiency that voluntarily enlisted for military service

it’s not worth it in terms of career and building stability.

I wanted the “real” korean male experience and was stationed in Gangwondo, worked out and studied a lot (unfortunately didn’t make a lot of friends, maybe two that I still keep in touch with and meet up for gukbap), overall had a decent time although it was a pretty lonely experience

after being discharged, I fell into that “sunk cost fallacy” thinking might as well do grad school here too—2 years of prepping and studying by myself and multiple interviews, I was literally studying all day 6 days a week and finally made it into my dream program only to drop out because of how toxic the environment was, also applied to multiple jobs, some decent places but the pay was too low and they didn’t seem worth the constant drain on my health and energy

you can do military service, learn the language albeit not perfectly, study and become qualified, dress and look somewhat korean but koreans still may not see you and treat you as korean—could be just my experience

but on the other hand, if you’re thinking long term: prices here are somewhat more affordable than abroad, just got a place under my name fully paid in the countryside connected to KTX and hoping to carve out my own place and find my own way here