selery

Not OP, but my ex bf did his S Korean military service too. You have until age 35 to go do your 21 months, but most people try to take care of it earlier, for physical reasons and also so it doesn't interrupt your career. Among my Korean friends who studied in the US, some did it between high school and college, and some after college, but it seems like most did it in the middle. My ex boyfriend took a break from college and went from ages 22 to 24, then returned to finish up college. It's a huge drag from their perspective.

Regarding your second question, there is a famous case regarding a major Korean singer/dancer, Yoo Seung Jun, who got banned from entering Korea because at one point he mentioned that he intended to do his service, but then shortly afterward he obtained US citizenship, thus appearing to be "draft dodging." Usually they don't respond that harshly, as technically he did not do anything illegal and many people still protest the ruling, but maybe they were just trying to make an example out of him. I assume if you left Korea before doing your service, maintained your citizenship and tried to come back after age 35, you'd go to jail or be banned.

Korean Americans do not have to do the service if they are US citizens.

Did you or anyone you knew there have girlfriends/significant others during your service? What was communication with them like? Were such people made fun of?

When my Korean (now ex) boyfriend of two years had to leave for his service, his military buddies didn't believe he really had an American girlfriend waiting for him because I told him not to show people the few embarrassing pictures I'd given him. But eventually I let him and later I understood why it was a big deal. With very few women around, guys would jump at opportunities they had no interest in like going to church, just because they could see civilian women there.

I liked hearing about his experiences even though he found most of it boring. But it was just too hard to contact each other and eventually we broke up. I was madly in love with him but in retrospect we were not a good match, so I guess I have the Korean military to thank for cutting it short!

Edit: wordiness

Grueling for some, but it really depends where you end up. The one-month base camp at the beginning is physical but for my ex and many others (particularly English speakers), the rest of the time is mostly boring office work. They had some organized fitness competitions but it wasn't the main focus and I don't think it was required.

Haha, he told me people were jealous but I figured it was flattery. He did seem to appreciate me a lot more once he went to the military... In his case, for the first couple of months his computer time was limited. He would call me like once a week for a short while. There was also some official military online system for sending messages to soldiers (Did you have that? Maybe that was only for the base camp period) and I didn't know much Korean so I didn't realize I had to put a password on my letter to him if I wanted only him to see it. So my broken Korean and mushy English letter was completely open to the public! His uncle read it!

You must have lived in the States for a long time, no? My ex's English is still not as good as yours even after living in the US from age 15 and having tons of American friends!

Possibly. I'd almost rather do the physical stuff. In all that time you have to waste, you can at least come out buff! Haha.