Military Service for Choo?
Cleveland.com has an article today about how Choo is required to serve two years in the South Korean military. I don't know if this has been talked about before on this site, but this is the first time I've heard anything about it. The article says that the deadline for Choo to enter the military is 2010. Choo said that Korean athletes can be excused from military service if they do well in the Olympics, but of course he won't be on the Korean Olympic baseball team because he's playing in Cleveland.
Does this change our hope for Choo to become a possible starting outfielder in the next couple years, even as a platoon player? It doesn't look like he'll be in Cleveland more than two years unless he can work out some type of agreement with the military to serve only in the offseason or something. Has this affected other Korean baseball players, such as Chan Ho Park or Byung-Hyun Kim? It doesn't look like either of their careers were interrupted by military service.
over 3 years ago
Buckeye Brad
61 comments
0 recs |
Email
PrintComments
From Cleveland.com:
“Posted by tribefanatic on 07/24/08 at 7:49AM
Choo’s may needing to spend 2 years in the Korean military is another blow to an already incompotent front office.
Their knowing and/ or not knowing about this when giving up a starting 1B is unreal. Not that I miss Broussard. “
Is this person serious?
Wedge: [letting go of Casey's hand] I'll never let go, Casey. I promise.
although, choo is probably doing more for his country by representing it in mlb than he would in the military. perhaps this is the reason that kim and park didn’t face similar military service time interruptions to their career.
if this really was true, i feel like it HAS to have been discussed/noted/realized earlier.
Kim and Park were both exempted from military service for winning the gold medal at the 1998 Asian Games.
If that is true, who else will be pulling for the South Korean squad come 2009?
by The DiaTriber on Jul 24, 2008 1:14 PM EDT up reply actions
OK, I was wondering why (it seemed that) they hadn’t served in the military.
You would think that playing in the majors would be more prestigous than winning the Asian Games, which noone outside of Asia pays attention to (and probably not many in Asia). Doesn’t Choo playing in Cleveland help his country, from a public relations standpoint, more than his being a random soldier in their military?
by Buckeye Brad on Jul 24, 2008 1:41 PM EDT up reply actions
Hi guys. Long time no post.
Castrovince touched on the issue of Choo’s military obligations during Spring Training.
Interestingly, Castrovince reported that:
Some loopholes do exist. For one, Choo could become a U.S. citizen, though he hasn’t seriously entertained that possibility yet.
Perhaps an interruption in Choo’s career is not a foregone conclusion.
I was wondering if he could get out of this by becoming an American citizen, not that he would necessarily want to do that. I’m sure that most of his family is still in South Korea and he probably wants to go back there after his baseball career is over.
by Buckeye Brad on Jul 24, 2008 1:44 PM EDT up reply actions
According to my friend who is originally from Seoul, she told me upper-crust Koreans avoid service all the time on various loopholes not related to sports. Most people wouldn’t question a guy who played in the MLB.
by PatBordersHelmet on Jul 24, 2008 2:16 PM EDT up reply actions
Well she would certainly know more about this than me. Maybe becoming an American citizen could be a legitimate way for Choo to avoid service.
by Buckeye Brad on Jul 24, 2008 2:21 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, that’s what I was getting at. If he becomes an American citizen to avoid military service, that probably wouldn’t be looked upon to happily in his home country. So I don’t know how he (or his family) would be treated there.
by Buckeye Brad on Jul 24, 2008 2:19 PM EDT up reply actions
i’d be willing to bet if he has a sucessful pro baseball career, his adoration would trump any of that.
I would think so, too, but having never lived in Korea and no idea about their culture, I can only guess.
That’s also why I stated above that I would think the Korean government would love to have one of their citizens playing in the majors and would exempt him from military service rather than hinder – and possible ruin – his baseball career.
by Buckeye Brad on Jul 24, 2008 2:36 PM EDT up reply actions
I’ve heard it speculated that for major league players, South Korea would rather just get the tax money from their salaries than to compel military service. In any event, he has until 2010 to work things out with the government, and a wait-and-see approach is probably the smart thing for both parties at this point. If he can get an extension one year at a time, then he probably will be allowed to continue playing in the majors as long as he’s making $1 million or more.
Let me give you an example. Let’s say Choo has a great season in 2009 and looks like a “core player.” Choo, the Indians can work out a deal by which (a) Choo and/or the Indians pay S. Korea a $1 million fee, (b) Choo and the Indians agree to a five-year deal worth a guaranteed $15 million, (c) S. Korea grants Choo a five-year extension on his military service. That way, at some point, he still has to serve two years in the military, but it’s after he’s past his prime as a ballplayer.
What I’m getting at more generally is that when there isn’t a shortage of money (relative to the circumstance), there’s usually something that can be worked out.
South Korea generally is an open society and a democracy, so any reprisals on his family would likely be social in nature, rather than official oppression — I’m just saying, it’s not like it’s Cuba.
Anyway, I’m skeptical that his being out of options is the issue. Remember that the limit on options is intended primarily to (1) protect players from being blocked indefinitely in the minors, and (2) prevent teams from hoarding talent. Since neither is at issue in this case — he’d still be on the 40-man — I would imagine that something like the Restricted List can be used in a circumstance like this.
Through 2013. Contractually, he’s a year behind Garko and Gutierrez, more in line with Laffey and Cabrera.
Sounds like you need a refresher course on managing the clock.
It is conceivable (but not probable) that a player could end up with 0.000 mlb service time AND burn all of his options. All he would have to do is be on the 40 at the beginning of each season for 3 (or 4, depending on when he signed) years and never get called up during the season. After the final option year, he would need to stay on the 25 all year, and then the team would control him for 6 additional seasons before free agency.
Choo had .119 days of MLS to begin this season.
Players on the 40-man roster collect service time when on the 60-day DL, so Choo will get a full year of service this year, leaving him with 1.119 days of service. Considering he’s out of options, I’m assuming he spends the entire time in the Majors from here on out. If he were to end up back in Buffalo, it’s because he slumped, was DFA, went unclaimed on waivers, and went back to Buffalo. At that point, he’s not very useful to the Indians (or the 29 other teams that failed to claim him on waivers) and avoiding service is no longer an issue.
Anywho, if we assume he spends full, consecutive seasons on a 40-man roster, he’s under control under 2013. He’s got an outside, slim chance at being a super-two arb player after 2009.
I have to imagine that the main concern for the South Korean military is whether or not he’s past his ass-kicking prime. From what I understand, a soldier’s taking names skill starts to deteriorate first, which leads to higher rates of desertion and eventually causes a decline in the kicking ass ability.
by NickFantana on Jul 24, 2008 4:56 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
The questions is to properly evaluate his VORS—Value Over Replacement Soldier. According to www.soldier-reference.com, Choo’s VORS is 14.
by Buckeye Brad on Jul 24, 2008 5:15 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
I’ve heard it speculated that for major league players, South Korea would rather just get the tax money from their salaries than to compel military service. In any event, he has until 2010 to work things out with the government, and a wait-and-see approach is probably the smart thing for both parties at this point. If he can get an extension one year at a time, then he probably will be allowed to continue playing in the majors as long as he’s making $1 million or more.
I don’t know where you got this information, but this is totally wrong.
It wasn’t information, it was speculation. You can tell this because I start out by saying: “I’ve heard it speculated …”
If you’ve got hard facts or examples, then let’s have them. Otherwise, I’m sticking to my basic position, which is that the South Korean government probably would rather have the money and the prestige than one more soldier added to their millions.
There’s an age limit of military service regardless of what he’s doing or how much money he’s making in foreign countries. That is to say, there’s no delaying the military service over the age limt. So if Choo wants to avoid that, he should give up Korean nationality. Money is not an issue as for military service in Korea.
No problem — we have misunderstandings all the time here, even among those who know only English.
Are you actually in South Korea now, or are you from there?
I am skeptical only about the idea that exemptions or extensions are never made. It is rare to find an organization that large that never makes any exceptions. The government has plenty of motivation to find a way to make some kind of special arrangement with Choo, and few reasons not to.
I’m from Korea, but now I’m in the US for business purpose. I’m going back to Korea soon.
Korean government banned Korean people from having 2 or more nationalities, so if any Korean wants to have another country’s nationality, he or she has to give up Korean nationality. And this law is made because of the people who wants to avoid military service by having another nationality. So I think there’s no chance of settlement between the individual and the government, especially regarding military service. It hasn’t and it won’t.
And also Korean people don’t like the idea of “money can buy anything.” So even if Choo gets the proposed personal exception, it will face lots of people’s opposition.
Yes, thank you for sharing this all with us. Your third paragraph gets to what I was saying above, that even if Choo could get an exemption from the military, he may not want to if he plans to live with his family in Korea after his baseball career is over.
by Buckeye Brad on Jul 25, 2008 5:56 PM EDT up reply actions
i’ve heard it speculated that whereas domiciliaries or persons residing in korea in excess of one year are subject to taxation on income derived from sources both within and outside of korea, a non-resident’s income is taxable only to the extent it is derived from sources within korea. i believe our own code works similarly, though one of the 35 other regular commenters who has taken fed tax more recently than i will have to confirm this.
another option would be to just not go serve in the military. it’s not like they can come over here and make him. though it would make going back to visit a bit complex, i would imagine.
From Wiki: There are no alternatives for conscientious objectors15 except imprisonment.
So much for that route…maybe he can be imprisoned in U.S. baseball-styled jails while wearing a Cleveland Indians uniform, you think the South Korean government would go for that?
Wedge: [letting go of Casey's hand] I'll never let go, Casey. I promise.
I read a recent article (from last year) where they are trying to broaden the functions a conscientious objector could perform (like doing work in hospitals and such). Also, they were looking to lessen the service time to 15-18 months instead of the current 24+ months. Which looks like has happened but will be phased in slowly (like 2014).
Not that it would help Choo or his situation. But maybe that’s what he is waiting for. Some momenteous change in policy from the government.
Doing some googling, this wave of Korean entertainers gaining popularity is called “Hallyu”. I have read some reports (on blogs for some artist named “Rain”) that there has been memos passed around the Department of Defense on getting exemptions for entertainers. Is it a change in policy .. or just the faint hope from adolescent asian-phile bloggers? Dunno.
Oh, I get it now. His helmet looks like it’s too big for his head!
by PatBordersHelmet on Jul 24, 2008 10:44 PM EDT up reply actions
i had coffee this morning for the first time in months, on an empty stomach. i’ve felt like i’m going to throw up all day.
by Gradyforpresident on Jul 24, 2008 6:04 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
The 2010 Asian games are not until November 2010, so it would not conflict with US baseball.
Taiwan and Japan are the main competition, so a gold medal is not certain. Korea took bronze in 2006. How well does Korea have to do to limit his service? Choo said that if you do well(?) at the Olympics, you might only have to serve 4 weeks.
Do we know if and when Choo received his green card?
You have to hold a green card for 5 years before you are eligible to become a citizen.
He’s been living in and working in the US since 2001, so I’d assume he’s been a lawful permanent resident (maybe on an EB1 visa?) at least that long.
Maybe he’s an illegal alien, taking a major league baseball job away from a hard-working American (like Barry Bonds).
by Buckeye Brad on Jul 25, 2008 4:41 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
“SON WHY ARE YOU NOT CARRYING YOUR GUN IN THE COMPULSORY FASHION?”
“Because I have no goddamn ligaments in my elbow…..sir.”
by supermarioelia on Jul 25, 2008 10:54 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
Featured Stories
FanShots
Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.
Recent FanShots
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- Five tips for Showtime’s second season of ‘The Franchise,’ featuring the Miami Marlins
- The 10 best things about being a Detroit Tigers fan
- Surprise! A’s finally end the Yoenis Cespedes derby with $36 million deal for Cuban star
- The time Whitney Houston sang to Jim Bowden
- Pitchers and catchers! Mariners get early start in Arizona
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
