[Celebrity Army Recruits - Too Much Freedom?]

Recently, allkpop released an article discussing the apparent privileges of celebrity recruits in the South Korean military. After the scandal with Se7en and Lee Sangchu, SBS' "On-Site 21" shared more unbelievable material. The episode showed celebrities using their cellphones freely, purchasing alcohol, and drinking in their hotel rooms past 2 AM. It was also speculated that the celebrities often wear casual clothing when they go out and address superiors informally (merely as hyung). 

But, the most shocking news to me was what a former Defense Media Agency employee claimed:

"The gym in the Defense Media Agency (only for celebrity recruits) has widescreen TVs, PlayStation gaming consoles, snacks, and clothes... [The celebrities] tell the workers who are actually working on media PR to get off the computer so they can go browse the internet...They also take days off like they're children asking to leave school. They say things like...'I'm going to go cut my hair at a hair salon. I have to maintain my style.'"

Furthermore, one of the women who used to work at the agency stated:

"They'd grope our butts as a greeting, and then make us take love shots with people we've never met before. They treated us like hostesses at a bar. Once, one of them told me to sit next to him, so I did. He then put a piece of meat in his mouth, took it out and told me to eat it. He said it was a test of love... But it was a situation where if we complained, we'd get fired. Who'd take it up to them?".

If this news is true, which seems more and more likely every day, the celebrity soldiers and the South Korean government have a lot to explain. It's completely disgusting for this type of behavior (especially the sexual harassment of female employees) to occur, regardless of one's celebrity status. Furthermore, this behavior is hardly fair to the normal, everyday citizens who enlist as soldiers; they work considerably hard in the military and do not (to my understanding) receive as much slack as the celebrity soldiers.

We'll have to wait and see if any proof arises from these speculations.

How do you feel about this situation?

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